


Rain

by losvcr



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Getting Back Together, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, break-up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-01-29 02:56:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12621580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/losvcr/pseuds/losvcr
Summary: Richie and Eddie had dated each other for a long time, and things had been going great - or so, they thought. After Eddie comes home to an empty apartment and a note left behind, the loving relationship of four years tragically ended. Years of never speaking to each other later, the wedding of Beverly and Ben brings everyone back together, including Eddie and Richie.Hotel room mix-ups, drunken confessions, loud arguments between several losers, bad parties, old childhood games, memories, music, love, and drama ensues over the week of preparing for the wedding.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> i've already started posted this on tumblr, and got a suggestion to post it on here! so hopefully you guys enjoy the journey. <3
> 
> here's a link to my tumblr - https://losvcr.tumblr.com/

_“Richie, are you here?”_

_A trembling, but soft sigh sounded past the blue tinted lips of Eddie Kaspbrak as he closed the wooden door behind him, visibly wincing at the squeaking sounds of his sneakers as they collided with the hardwood floor beneath him._

_It was raining. Hard. His previously dry jacket was now soaked to the point that his once-dry clothes took a heavy hit as well._

_This caused Eddie’s body to tremble like an autumn leaf, but the immense relief he felt once walking into the warm apartment helped to curb the effect a bit._

_“Richie? Did you fall asleep in my bed again?” Eddie called out once more, carefully removing his shoes before walking further inside of his small abode._

_There wasn’t much to his apartment; it unfortunately lacked space. It contained one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen/living room that shared the same area. In fact, the common area wasn’t too much bigger than his room, but that was fine to him. He had what he needed. Besides, living in New York meant that any decent apartment would cost a fortune._

_He had done his best to make it his own by using subtle, but neat decorations to line his walls and inexpensive furniture in hopes of not making it too cluttered._

_After grabbing a towel to dry himself off with, running it over his curls, Eddie walked over to his bedroom to see if his theory was correct. However, a deep frown began to settle on his face when he found both his bed and bedroom empty._

_‘Where the hell is he?’ Eddie thought to himself, trying not to become worked up over his boyfriend’s absence._

_The first thing he did was try to call Richie a few times once he got off of work. All of the calls went straight to voicemail, which made him a little nervous, but Eddie wasn’t too stressed about it. He knew that sometimes Richie forgot to charge his phone and tended to be irresponsible with handling it._

_That was when he did the next best thing, and he checked Richie’s apartment, which was across town from his. His boyfriend’s apartment was slightly more spacious than his, but both of them still preferred to spend more time at his apartment because Richie’s apartment was always a wreck._

_This too failed, but he knew he had one more destination to check on before beginning to worry, which was to go back to his own apartment. That, obviously, had failed, too._

_Eddie honestly thought that Richie might have been over, given by that god awful smell of cigarette smoke that hit him once he walked inside. His apartment would only smell that way if Richie was over. But, alas, he could not find the curly-headed male anywhere._

_“Fucking shit, Richie… now I have to go back out in this rain..” He grumbled to himself after changing out of his soaked work outfit into a fresh pair of jeans and a pastel polo shirt._

_While changing, he had thought of one last place that his other half could be, and that was at the studio. Richie had been in a band since he was sixteen, and six years later, they were signed and had anticipated to have such an amazing sophomore album release that a headlining world tour could be on the table._

_Eddie was so proud of how far Richie had come, but he still wanted to knock his head off for worrying him._

_Even though Richie could be irresponsible, it was unlike him to leave Eddie wondering of his whereabouts. He was trying hard not to jump to the worst conclusions, but the unusual lack of communication had his mind racing: What if Richie got hurt? What if he was lying somewhere dying, breathing his very last breath all alone?_

_He quickly shook those thoughts from his head, releasing a shuddering breath. He couldn’t think like that. Richie had to be okay._

_Walking through the living room, Eddie was moving towards the front door until he saw something on the side table next to his small loveseat. He knew his apartment, and that hadn’t been there before._

_His brow furrowed once he stopped in front of the table, curious fingers reaching down to grab a white piece of paper sitting there, the bottom corner charred a brown, ugly color - Richie._

_As his eyes read over what he identified as a letter, his grip tightened on the paper so much that his knuckles began to turn white. The paper began to shake along with his hands the longer his eyes scanned the contents of the letter, his stomach having completely bottomed out._

_No. This was not happening. His eyes had to be deceiving him._

_Once Eddie finished reading the entirety of the note, his hands finally released its hold, allowing the paper to fall as it gently floated back and forth until the floor took it._

_His shaking hands remained raised in shock, tears burning in his eyes. He had been completely unaware of his hyperventilating until he found that he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t fucking breathe._

_He needed his inhaler. Fuck, where did he put his goddamn inhaler?_

_**“Dear Eds,** _

_**How was work today? I hope it was okay. I know sometimes it’s rough for you at the children’s hospital, but I know you love it, Baby Boy.”** _

_Eddie raced across the room to his bedroom (nearly tripping on his coffee table in the process), ripping his closet door open and rummaging through its contents._

_He. Couldn’t. Breathe._

_**“I wanted to say this to you in person, but I knew the second I saw your beautiful eyes and that cute smile, I would be done for. I had to do it this way. I hope you understand.”** _

_Tears streamed down Eddie’s cheeks as he tried to breathe, but the air would not fill his lungs and filter back out as CO2 like normal. He needed his inhaler. Pushing one box to the side, he quickly began to rummage through another._

_**“I have to leave. I can’t do this relationship anymore. Fuck, I know it’s gonna sound so cliche, but it’s not you. God, I swear to fuck it’s not you, Eds. You’re so fucking perfect. I loved you.”** _

_Finally, after what seemed like hours, Eddie found his older inhaler. Frantically, the male pulled the cap off and pressed the opening to his lips. After inhaling the puffs of rather gross tasting water, he collapsed to the ground, sobs freely falling past his trembling lips. How could he go on after this?_

_**“I hope you don’t hate me for this. If you do, I wouldn’t blame you. I left the key you gave me on the counter. Good luck, Eddie. I want your life to be filled with so much joy.** _

_**\- Love, Richie”** _

_Only one sentence kept repeating through Eddie’s brain as he sat on his bedroom floor, his sobbing having turned to gut-wrenching wailing._

_I **loved** you._

—

Eddie stretched his arms out as he waited in the airport for Mike Hanlon, enjoying the beams of sunlight hitting his pale skin and the warm weather of Hawaii.

He had never been to Hawaii before, but he guessed that it was time to try something new.

In front of him, a tawny Honda CR-V pulled up. A giant smile graced Eddie’s features as he recognized the driver behind the wheel. However, he did not recognize the beautiful woman sitting next to the driver.

“Eddie! It’s so good to see you!”

The last time Eddie saw Mike Hanlon was over a year ago. It seemed like every time he saw the other male, he somehow looked as if he hadn’t aged a year. He looked great. Anyone who looked over him could tell that he liked to go to the gym, his muscles flexing behind the white tank top he wore as he moved in to hug Eddie.

Eddie easily returned the gesture, a small laugh falling past his lips at the feel of Mike’s full beard scratching and tickling the skin of his cheek. “Nice to see you too, Mikey. I feel like you get a least an inch taller every time I see you.” Eddie teased.

“Or maybe you’re just getting shorter, Eddie.” Mike joked back.

After they pulled back from the warm embrace, Mike stepped to the side to reveal the woman who had been in the passenger seat.

“This is my girlfriend, Whitney.” Up close, she looked much prettier than she did at a distance; freckled skin, the greenest eyes Eddie had ever witnessed in his life, hair darker than night, and a warm smile that made him understand immediately why Mike would like her.

Before he could speak up and introduce himself, she was talking. “Nice to meet you, Eddie. I heard great things about you.” He blinked in surprise when she pulled him into a hug, but after the shock subsided, he hesitantly returned the gesture, which made Mike laugh out loud.

“Come on, let’s get back to the hotel. The others are waiting for us!”

—

On the whole way to the hotel, Eddie worked himself up into a nervous bundle. He did his best to keep up with the small talk Mike and Whitney were throwing at him, but his mind wasn’t quite there. All he could think about was one thing.

One person, really.

He had been distracted with his thoughts all the way from getting out of the car to walking inside of the hotel. What snapped him out of it was hearing his name being called multiple times from the center of the hotel.

“You made it!”

Soon, he was being enveloped in more warm embraces from his friends that he hadn’t seen in quite a while.

First was Beverly, who was glowing like an angel as she grinned and pulled him in for a tight hug. Afterwards was Ben, his strong arms tugging him into a bear hug that had him playfully gasping out an ‘I can’t breathe!’

Stan Uris gave him a smile that he couldn’t help but return, a teasing handshake from Stan turning into hug.

By the time Bill was pulling him into a hug, Eddie was practically putty in his arms. He hadn’t realized just how much he actually missed his best friends.

“Congratulations, Bev and Ben!” Eddie exclaimed after pulling back from Bill, grinning at the two lovebirds who seemed to be attached at the hip.

“Thanks, Eddie! Did you have a good flight?” Bev asked curiously.

“Well, let’s see. A trip across the continental US with only one stop and extreme turbulence.” He paused, with a mischievous smile, “In other words, it was perfect.”

That brought about laughter, but once it died down, he suddenly remembered why he had been nervous in the first place. Richie.

His heart leapt up into his mouth at the thought, but before he could tentatively ask where the other male was, he was interrupted by a loud yell that had all of them turning to find the source.

“Get the hell away from my bar!”

“Sheesh, it was a joke. How about you laugh a little, sweetheart?”

Eddie’s heart leaped once again at that voice.

His voice.

His eyes finally found him, watching the giraffe of a man stumble his way over and laughing while the bartender behind the counter glared daggers at him.

Eddie’s heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he could physically feel the pulsing all the way in his right temple at the sight of his ex-lover. He felt like he could pass out any second.

The rest of the Losers seemed to grow quiet as Richie finally made it over, a martini glass perched in his hand.

“Some people don’t know how to take a joke, I’ll tell ya. It was like she was saying “beep, beep, Richie!” without–” Eddie felt his face light up once he finally made eye contact with the boy he hadn’t seen in over five years.

The first thing he noticed was his eyes. He could tell that Richie traded in his spectacles for contacts, even though he swore he would wear glasses forever just to be an outlier.

The second thing he noticed was Richie’s hair. The curls were just as he remembered - wild and untamed. Except, they were a bit longer than he remembered. Many people had told Richie that he needed a haircut, but Eddie liked his longer hair.

The third thing he noticed was the tattoos. Part of him was shocked by this new addition, but the other part wasn’t shocked by the nerdy themes that were etched permanently on Richie’s skin.

He watched Richie visibly swallow, before Richie finally spoke to him for the first time in five years.

“Oh, uh.. Hey, Eds.”


	2. Chapter 2

Silence took over the lobby while Richie and Eddie stared at one another, the tension palpable. Years and years of painful silence was abruptly broken.

Eddie wondered if Richie’s heart was racing just as fast as his was.

He was struggling to organize his thoughts in that moment, unable to truly process his ex-boyfriend and how he felt in that moment.

Sure, he had gotten a glimpse of Richie a few times on TV or somewhere on social media since the break up, but it was something he would quickly change channels away from or exit out of. He had avoided studying him, knowing that the ache he had spent over a year trying to repress would immediately return as a sharp pain.

That sharp pain that he was trying to avoid after all of those years finally made its return. Seeing Richie brought back a rush of emotions that he wasn’t mentally prepared to handle.

His breathing speeding up ever so slightly had Eddie instinctively reaching for his back pocket, until he remembered that he didn’t have an inhaler anymore.

It was Richie’s disappearance that made the use of the inhaler needed, and it took him months to stop needing it afterwards.

_‘You don’t need it. You don’t need it.’_ He chanted in his mind to calm down.

As everything that they’d been through flashed across his mind, a glare started to form on Eddie’s face, his arms crossing over his chest defiantly. At first, he wasn’t sure which emotion would rise to the surface, but it was clear that anger was making its appearance.

“No hi, Eddie?” Richie’s resonant voice echoed inside of his head, making Eddie upset that it still made his heart skip a beat to hear.

He didn’t respond, sure that not only would his reply be scathing, but that his voice would shake as well; neither was a good outcome.

Instead, he walked over to sit on a nearby couch, ignoring the existence of his ex while simultaneously ignoring the stares of the rest of the losers. How dare Richie expect Eddie to say _anything_ to him after he up and left Eddie with only a note? Eddie had heard nothing but radio silence ever since finding that letter, and he felt it was only fair for him to be able to choose whether or not to break that silence.

“So, what’s the plan for this week? Since we’re all here, we should catch up.” Eddie was glad that his voice didn’t shake the way it wanted to, doing his best to avoid Richie’s gaze. He did catch another glimpse of Richie, however, and thought that maybe for a second, Richie actually looked hurt by being ignored.

No, that couldn’t be so. A guy who could leave his four year boyfriend with nothing but a note definitely would not feel hurt over being ignored.

After another long beat of dragging silence, Mike awkwardly cleared his throat, speaking up to break it. “A round of drinks to celebrate Ben and Bev’s wedding?”

—

They spent thirty minutes in the lobby catching up.

The round of drinks were on Bill, and after they all downed a shot, the awkwardness in the air dissipated.

A lot of the talk surrounded around their careers; growing up meant that work was one of the most meaningful topics that adults could participate in.

Ben had been an architect for nearly six years, and he was renowned for his mind and concepts. His most recent project had taken place in Europe for an important building. Beverly was a successful fashion designer, with many of her designs being sold for a high cost because their popularity. Bev revealed that she was in the works of starting her own line and company.

Mike remained in their small childhood town of Derry, but he played a large part in bettering the community. He’d gotten himself into politics, and was planning on running for mayor, which all of them encouraged. He’d met Whitney, who was also working in politics, while campaigning.

Stan took up accounting, having a six figure salary to show for his smarts. He had previously worked in a huge firm in Georgia, but after he got into a relationship with Bill, he took on freelancing accounting to be able to travel with Bill due to Bill’s career - he was a horror author, already having two best sellers under his belt.

Eddie had been a nurse at a children’s hospital in New York for two years now. While being in school, he had a work study at the hospital which paid for most of his expenses. It was doing a volunteer job at the hospital at the age of eighteen that exposed his passion for taking care of children.

Then there was Richie, who was a rockstar. His band, Contagion, had done two sold out world tours and had two platinum albums. To say he was doing well was an understatement.

To say they were all doing well was an understatement. The kids who were once losers were now successful adults.

By the time they’d started branching off onto different topics, Eddie found that he’d had enough.

The whole time, he tried to focus on his friend’s accomplishments and how amazing it was that two of his best friends were getting married, but all he could do was take looks at Richie, who had been staring at him the whole entire time.

It wasn’t Richie’s staring that bothered him. It was him feeling like his heart would jump out of his chest every time he saw Richie staring, rather than feeling annoyed like he was supposed to.

Instead, he was annoyed with the fact that even after five years, Eddie Kaspbrak was still in love with Richie Tozier.

He was still the same loudmouth Eddie had loved - _still_ loved, and somehow, that hurt more.

“Eddie, you okay?” He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Bill’s voice to his left, quiet and concerned. He could tell that Bill was trying not to draw attention to Eddie’s absentminded-ness, which he was grateful for.

“Yeah, I’m good…” he lied, reaching a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. He was sure that Bill was aware that he was being less than truthful, but Bill didn’t push it. “I’m gonna go up to my room.” Eddie announced out loud, causing any side conversations to drop as the attention went on him. ”Can I have my key?”

“Yeah, of course, bud. Do you need any help to bring your bags up?” Ben questioned from the opposite couch, turning slightly to rummage through a folder briefly. “Ah, room 2040. Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Eddie was antsy as he stood up to his feet and quickly made his way over to Ben to take the key card from Ben, ready to get to away for a few minutes. “And no, I got it.”

“Wait, room 2040? Are you sure?” Eddie’s brow furrowed at the sound of Richie’s voice, his gaze reluctantly finding the tall male. “That’s _my_ room.”

He could just pass out in that moment. No way.

Eddie immediately turned back to face Ben, unable to hide the panic on his face. “Ben, check again.” He demanded, voice snippier than usual.

Their group broke out into quiet murmurs as Ben went to look again, his own frown in place. By the time he was finished foraging the folder, his face was twisted into a grimace. “I guess the hotel made a mistake, Eddie… We told them to give both you and Richie separate rooms.”

Eddie was practically seething, his diminutive frame shaking in anger that masked his other emotions. “Why would you guys put me in the same room as him?!” He snapped, pointing an angry finger over towards a wide-eyed Richie.

“Eddie, please, it was an accident. We really did tell them!” Bev tried, her eyes sympathetic. “Does anyone maybe wanna switch rooms?”

Silence. Fucking silence. Eddie desperately scanned the lobby to see downcast heads and fumbling fingers.

No one wanted to switch.

He would be stuck in a room with his ex-boyfriend who he was still in love with.

Without a word, Eddie grabbed his bags and stormed over towards the elevator, punching the up button hard with his pointer finger. He ignored the calls of his friends towards him, quickly stepping onto the elevator and pressing the close door button several times so that no one would get the bright idea to follow him.

“I can’t fucking believe this…” He mumbled heatedly to himself, taking in several deep breaths to keep from freaking out even further.

This was his first time facing the monster in his closet, but he didn’t think he would have to fraternize with him.

Eddie eventually pushed through the door of the hotel room, immediately hit with the smell of cigarette smoke.

Was he crazy?

_“Richie, you cannot smoke in here.. Are you crazy? They have smoke detectors in this kind of place, y’know! You wanna know what’s gonna happen? It’s gonna go off, they’re gonna have to evacuate the hotel, and then we’re gonna be banned. Do you want that?” Eddie placed his hands on his hips expectantly, a look of annoyance saturating his face at the sight of Richie’s grin._

_“Relax, baby boy. I’ve done this a million and a half times. This is the one time you’ve seen me do it.” He explained from his spot on the bed, blowing smoke rings up at the ceiling._

_Eddie had finally agreed to go to an out of state performance with Richie, and now that it was over, they were staying the night at a nice hotel._

_“And that makes it better how?”_

_Richie smirked and reached a hand out to grab Eddie’s wrist, tugging him down onto the bed with him as he set his cigarette down into the ashtray next to him. “It’s a smoking room, Eddie. I specifically asked for it.”_

_“Fine. But you still shouldn’t smoke. I hate the smell of it.” He mumbled quietly from his spot next to Richie, reaching up to run his fingers through Richie’s curls._

_“Mm.. you know I love it when you do that, Eds.”_

_“If you stop smoking, maybe I’ll do it some more. And don’t call me that.”_

_“Aww, why not? You’re my little Eds.” Richie grinned again, making quick work of rolling on top of Eddie and leaning down to peck his lips a couple of times despite the expression of distaste on his boyfriend’s features._

_“You’re lucky that I love you Richie.”_

_“Yeah. I really am.”_

Eddie walked further inside of the rather huge hotel room, a bit struck by how fancy it was. The room was dressed with extravagant-looking embroidery cloth and the furniture looked like it cost a fortune to buy. Ben and Bev really went all out with their pick of hotel.

His heart dropped when he saw only one king sized bed in the center of the room, with Richie’s bags tossed into the middle of the bed. He hadn’t known what to expect, but the thought of sharing a bed with Richie after everything, was what finally broke him.

Eddie left his bags by a nearby table and moved to sit on the bed, letting the weight of the situation fall onto his shoulders.

Then, before he knew it, hot tears were streaming down his cheeks, followed by a choked sob. He didn’t know if he could do this. This felt like it was too much.

—

After the elevator doors closed, everyone traded glances with each other, before simultaneously looking over to Richie.

_‘Shit. Shit, shit, shit’_ was all Richie could think. He knew that Eddie had every right to be upset with him. Hell, he would be upset with himself if he were Eddie. That still didn’t mean he enjoyed to see Eddie react like this. Especially to him.

The purpose of writing that letter had been to avoid exactly what he’d just witnessed.

“I’m gonna go talk to him.” Richie announced, briskly rising up to his feet.

“Rich, that’s probably not a good idea–” Instead of letting Stan finish his statement, Richie broke in.

“I’m gonna go talk to him.” He repeated firmly, not waiting for another word before striding over to the elevator. He too ignored the calls of his friends, having a mission.

Richie had no clue what to expect once he made it into the room with Eddie. Eddie’s attitude towards him thus far was not a good one. Again, that wasn’t surprising, but it was still difficult for Richie to actually accept.

Part of him was still shocked by Eddie’s behavior, positive that after five years, Eddie would have moved on and not seem so hurt over him. Perhaps it had been naive of him to think that would be the case.

Richie pushed his key card into the door, the faint ‘click’ letting him know that he had unlocked it. Taking a deep breath, Richie pushed forward, walking inside of the room.

Once inside, his eyes landed on Eddie, who seemed to be scrubbing away at his face desperately. Richie frowned at this, and his heart dropped once he realized that Eddie had been crying.

“Hey, uh…” Richie stopped a few feet away from Eddie, hating the harsh glare that Eddie threw in his direction. Underneath his glare, there seemed to be something else on the surface. It was an emotion he swore he would try his hardest not to ever be let seen on Eddie’s face. Pain. “If it’s this big of a deal, I can get my own hotel room. Y’know. So you can be by yourself…”

All he wanted to do was walk over to Eddie and wipe those tears from his eyes. He wanted to apologize profusely and tell Eddie not to ever cry over him. He wanted to hug him and tell him exactly how he felt.

But the glare on his curly-headed ex-lover’s face kept him at bay.

“It’s whatever.. I’m not gonna make anymore of a scene about it. S’not my week. It’s Ben and Beverly’s. We’re adults. I can handle it.”

Hearing Eddie’s voice so flat and dejected while speaking to him was hard for Richie. Normally there was a fire behind his tone, or a sickly sweet sonata Richie longed for; neither was there.

His feet tapped the ground nervously while he stared at Eddie with a frown, trying to figure out what the hell he could say. He hadn’t had time to really think this over.

It remained awkwardly quiet for a few more beats, before he finally tried to speak again. “Eds–”

“Don’t call me that.” Eddie snapped quietly. Richie was surprised by the bite behind Eddie’s words - He meant it.

“Eddie, please… I’m sor–”

“ _Don’t_. Please. Just… Don’t.”

Before Richie could reel back in from the shock, Eddie was up on his feet and pushing past him to leave the hotel room.

He really fucked up.


	3. Chapter 3

_“I’m a fuckin’ screw up..” Smoke filtered past Richie’s lips with each word he spoke, creating a large smoke cloud in front of him that dissipated moments later. His eyes were red not only from his intoxicated haze, but also from the uncontrollable crying he’d been doing all day. He felt emaciated, hating that he was on his fifth cigarette of the day without even a slight curve in his hunger or nerves. Despite this, he still told himself that he deserved that for what he did._

_He didn’t even flinch when he felt his cigarette being snatched from his fingers, his dark eyes lifting to stare up blankly at a concerned Beverly. “Richie, stop it.”_

_“I was smoking that.” Richie’s tone was apathetic because he truly did not care about the cigarette. He didn’t care about anything except for the thing he’d given up._

_“For crying out loud, Richie, why won’t you just go talk to him?” Stan’s once patient and and sympathetic voice was now laced with exasperation._

_They didn’t understand. None of them did. See, Richie hadn’t done what he did for himself. If he had it his way, that ink would have never made contact that stupid sheet of paper, and he would be cuddling his now ex-lover on Eddie’s loveseat instead of crying his eyes out._

_He didn’t react when he felt Beverly’s hands grasp his, dropping his gaze down to his bony knees that bounced restlessly. He hadn’t been able to sit still all day, which typically occurred when he was nervous or excited over something._

_This time, he was anxious. He was anxious, and he was distressed._

_“Richie, Eddie doesn’t want this, either.” Bev started out softly; reluctantly, almost. “We talked to the other guys, and–”_

_“And what, Beverly? Sure, he might be hurt right now, but it won’t last forever.” His delivery was harsh, each word crackling with a bitterness that neither Bev nor Stan was expecting._

_It seemed to be too much for Stan, whose words were just as harsh when he said, “You sound stupid right now, Richie! Why are you being stubborn? It’s obvious that neither of you want this. Man up and go talk to him!”_

_Richie snatched his hands away from Beverly while rising up to his full height, his chest heaving up and down with anger that shook his lanky skeleton to the core._

_“And just what the hell do you think you know, Stan?! You don’t know anything! You don’t fucking get it! You don’t fucking know how it feels to be in my shoes!”_

_Beverly was the next person to hop up to her feet, a hand pressing to Richie’s vibrating chest and the other settling on Stan’s shoulder to keep in between the two frustrated boys._

_Nothing else could be said, however, before both Bev and Stan recoiled at the loud sound that left Richie’s mouth; a sob._

_Immediately, Bev lunged forward to wrap her arms around Richie’s shoulders, her heart breaking when she felt his body shaking and tears soaking her blouse.  
Not even a moment later, Stan joined in on the hug and started running his hand through Richie’s hair in an attempt to help soothe the sobbing man._

_“I’m sorry, Richie. I didn’t mean to be inconsiderate.” Stan apologized. It pained both Bev and Stan to see their best friend so hurt and inconsolable, especially when they considered his problem to be fixable. Yet, it was becoming increasingly evident that Richie had reasons for his decision that he wasn’t sharing with them._

_Richie’s legs grew weak with grief, but his friends never let go of him as they all crumbled to the ground. All Richie could do was cling to their whispers and comforting touches._

—

“We were considering having our parties on different days, so that you guys could come to both!”

“Yeah, but then who’s gonna stay with the other while everyone else goes and parties?”

“Are you guys gonna do something different for each party? There’s no point in doing two parties if it’s gonna be the same.”

“Aren’t bachelorette parties supposed to be all girly and shit?”

“That’s ridiculous, Stan. Gender roles are stupid.”

“How about everyone not talk over each other?”

A loud clanking of glass caused the various conversations going around the table to come to a close, their eyes all darting over to Whitney who had a bright grin on her lips. It turned out that she fit surprisingly well with the rest of them.

Patiently, she waited for everyone else to raise their glasses before she started. “A toast to Ben and Beverly for not only being such a cute couple, but for putting this fantastic trip together. These two truly deserve happiness together.”

“I’ll cheer to that!” Richie’s exclamation made Eddie’s heart leap up to his throat, feeling a headache of frustration welling up right in the front of his skull.

Every time he heard Richie’s voice at the dinner table, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He knew that coming to Hawaii early was a terrible idea. He could be at home, not having to worry about being in Richie’s presence until a day before the wedding, but here he was. It wasn’t even a day into the week, and he already wanted to leave.

Glasses clinked together in concord and it almost sounding like a symphony as chatter and laughter filled the room again.

Eddie moved his fork around his barely touched plate, finding that he didn’t want to participate in conversation. He’d been so lost in his own miserable thoughts that he didn’t know Bill was approaching him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Eddie. Let’s take a walk.” Eddie looked back at Bill who towered over him in his seat, unable to stop the frown finding his features. However, he didn’t argue as he stood up and allowed Bill to lead the way towards the exit of the restaurant.

Bill’s cadence was a bit quick, and Eddie struggled a bit to keep up, but not before taking a glance behind him; he didn’t want to admit it, but his eyes searched for the black curls he had been staring at for far too long already.  
Eddie’s eyes finally found the gangly physique of Richie, and once he saw where he was and what he was doing, he felt his heart drop.

That motherfucker.

“Eddie, c’mon.” Eddie could now hear the tone of Bill’s voice, something he had been oblivious to moments ago. It was concern.

The newfound anger caused Eddie to stomp right past Bill, pushing past the doors and out into the warm air.

“Eddie, I said a walk. I didn’t mean a jog.” 

Of course, Bill was trying to cheer him up. Mush-mouth Bill, who no longer had that childhood stutter that people would make fun of. Successful, good looking Bill, who seemed to always take charge and tried to make sure his friends were okay.

Eddie stopped a few feet from the restaurant, doing his best to suck in deep breaths. _You don’t need it, you don’t need it, you don’t need it._

“Are you okay, Eddie?” Bill placed a hand on Eddie’s back, running circles over it with a worried expression.

“He’s a jerk and a fucking half. First, he breaks up with me. Second, he completely ignores me for years. Third, he goes and flirts with other people in front of me like a dick.”

Eddie didn’t expect to be so upset when he saw Richie clearly flirting with a cute brunette guy, but he should have known better. He should have known that the years apart weren’t spent healing and moving on - they were spent suppressing.

Once Eddie calmed down, he stood up straight and stared up at Bill who looked like he was conflicted.

“…He’s an idiot. I know. But Eddie, he still—“

“Don’t you dare say it, Bill. If you saw Stan doing that, you’re telling me that you wouldn’t react the same way I am?”

Bill went silent. He knew that Eddie had a good point.

“Your feelings are completely valid, Eddie. Just know that… We all see the way Rich still looks at you. He—”

Eddie cut Bill off once again by saying, “Can we talk about something else?”

Bill looked as if he wanted to say more, but he sighed, letting it go. “Let’s go for that walk, Eddie.”

 

—

 

Just as fate would have it, Richie pissed him off and then tried to talk to him on the way back to the hotel room.

“It’ll be just like the old days, Eddie. Y’know, I still like being the little spoon.”

“Richie, shut the fuck up.” Eddie snapped as he pushed through the door of their hotel room, not making an effort to hold it for him as he made quick work of undoing his tie.

Richie caught the door, a mischievous grin on his face. If this was going all to hell, he figured that he might as well be himself. “I remember sharing a bed with you, Eds.” His eyes followed Eddie to the other side of the room. “Remember when I would do that thing that made you scr—“

“Richie, I swear to god!” He flinched when he saw Eddie rear back a shoe, bringing his hands and leg up to protect his face.

“I’m kidding! I’m just kidding. I’m sorry, I’m really happy to see you, Eddie.” Richie told him sincerely.

This caught Eddie off guard and he did his best not to melt at his words. Eddie let the shoe fall to the ground, which made Richie feel safe enough to walk in and plop down on the bed.

“Listen. I’m just trying to make it through the week.” Eddie started, dropping his hands and finding Richie’s gaze. “I think it’s best if we just stay out of each other’s way for the rest of the time. Right?” _God, why do I have to sound so uncertain?_

“No, I don’t think so. We’re sharing the same room, for fucks sake. I just wanna be friends again. … and a little more.”

Eddie was looking for the shoe again by the time Richie spit out another _just kidding!_

Eddie already felt exasperated by this situation already. He hated being in this position, and not only that, but it felt like Richie wasn’t understanding exactly just how much he’d hurt him.

“I’ll be nice enough, but.. I’m not ready to forgive you, Richie. I don’t know if I ever will be able to.” He was just being honest.

As much as it hurt, Richie knew he deserved that. He knew he deserved that and more. Yet, as he sat there dumbfounded, he began to feel something else. Anger? Frustration?

Without another word, he stood up and began to unbutton his shirt, stomping towards the bathroom.

Eddie watched Richie do this with complete and utter shock. Richie was angry with _him_? “You don’t get to do that, y’know.”

Richie rolled his eyes, coming back into their room and throwing the button up onto their bed. “Do what? I’m not doing anything. Just giving you what you want, Eddie.”

It was unfair. He knew it was. But all Richie could hear was Eddie telling him that he might not ever forgive him, and instead of crying like he wanted to, he decided to protect his ego with anger.

“You know what, Eddie? You can keep living in the past and hating me like you obviously want to. I don’t fucking live like that so just let me know once you stop being a girl and acting like you have the worst case of PMS ever. You’ll know where to find me… here. In this room. With you.”

Eddie stood across the room, his mouth wide open in disbelief. Did Richie really just try to pull that shit on him? Before he knew it, he was storming over to the tall man, pointing his finger directly into his chest.

“You know what, fuck you, Richie. Sorry that I’m still hurt over the fact that you walked out my life, asshole. _‘Ohhh, I’m Richie. I’m not ever gonna admit I was a stupid motherfucker to leave the best boyfriend and lay I’ve probably ever had in my life.’_ ” Eddie began to mock Richie.

“ _‘Ohhh, I’m Richie, I’m gonna blame everyone except for myself, even though I was the motherfucker to leave. Oh, I’m being the bigger person because I’m not “living in the past” and I don’t care that I broke someone’s heart. They’re obviously being a fucking baby for not moving on. Let’s make them feel ten times shittier about everything than they already do’_. Sorry that my mind doesn’t work in that way, and sorry that you think I’m living in the past. If you think I’m acting like a girl and really don’t understand why I’m acting this way, then honestly, truly… You can go fuck yourself.”

Eddie hadn’t meant to snap on Richie the way he had, but he was angry with what Richie had said to him. Richie was acting as if he were being a baby after everything that happened between them and Eddie couldn’t understand how he could think that.

Richie’s body shook after hearing what Eddie had to say, but it was mostly because he felt stung by it. He glared down at Eddie, wondering whether or not he should say anything to that. Of course, his trash mouth got the best of him.

“Must be nice, huh? You think you got me all figured out when you don’t know a fucking thing! What, you think I had a grand time writing that letter? Think I had a grin on my face the whole time? You didn’t think I felt like shit? I did. So fuck you for thinking I didn’t care!”

They stood mere inches away from each other, so close to each other but never so far. Both of their bodies vibrated with heat, but despite the anger they spewed, the true emotion they shared was evident; hurt.

“I don’t care if you were fucking sobbing when you wrote the letter!” Eddie’s voice cracked, his eyes welling up with tears as he stared up at Richie. “You didn’t talk to me. You didn’t say anything to me! You just fucking disappeared! I didn’t get to see your face one last time before you…” He trailed off, reaching up to roughly wipe the tears away from his eyes before continuing on. “Nothing- _Nothing_ you can say will justify that, Richie. You fucking broke me. Just… j-just leave me alone.”

Eddie couldn’t stand there anymore and argue with Richie. Everything already hurt too much. Without waiting for a retort, he quickly pushed past Richie and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him before looking it. Once he was alone, he didn’t hold back on his emotions. He let the tears shed, sitting down on the floor and bringing his knees up to his chest.

A frustrated growl pushed past Richie’s lips, hating the way that he was starting to feel. The guilt that he had learned to contain was back. He stood there, unsure of what to do. He knew that he fucked up, but he didn’t know how to make it better.

He shoved a hand through his black locks before sighing and turning to walk over to the bathroom door, pressing his hand against it. “I’ve been with a lot of people, Eds.” That was probably a terrible way to start, he realized. Richie winced at his own words, but hurried to advance. “But none of them were you. You were the first person I actually cared about. You made me feel different. It’s just…”

Richie paused, trying to think of what to say next. He wanted to tell Eddie everything, but the thought made his gut twist and turn violently. “I had my reasons for leaving that I can’t tell you right now, but I just need you to know… it had nothing to do with you. Eddie, I loved you.”

_I loved you._ Eddie remembered how that phrased pinged in and out of his head for weeks after reading that letter. He began to cry harder.

“Please Eddie, come out of there. I’m sorry, alright? I mean it. I’m sorry for what I did to you. You’re right. I was a real asshole. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable for the whole trip… If staying with me is that terrible, I’ll see if I can just get my own room.”

That was a lot harder for Richie to say than he wanted to admit. It was the reason he wrote a letter, after all. Saying those words to Eddie face to face felt as if it would hurt, and even now, he wasn’t face to face with the other male.

After a minute passed, Richie sighed, figuring that he was gonna have to grab a pillow and go crash in Bill and Stan’s room, but before he knew it, the bathroom door was being pulled open.

There stood Eddie a few inches away, his eyes and nose tinged with red. The look of his face was one of uncertainty.

“It’s not that big of a deal… Us rooming together, I mean. I guess I can deal with it. If you’re okay with it.”

A sigh of relief escaped Richie, and he nodded as he took a few steps back to allow Eddie out of the bathroom. He was fairly shocked by the change in Eddie’s demeanor, especially after what had been said, but he was glad for it nonetheless. “I’m okay with it.”

“Come on Richie, it’s late. Let’s go to bed.” Eddie was exhausted. He wasn’t in the mood to carry on the fight. He just wanted to sleep off the terrible day, even if he had to sleep with the person whose fault it was.

He knew their conversation was far from over. Eddie still didn’t understand why Richie left him, but he did know one thing - he would find out why. They still six days left.

That night, Richie and Eddie slept in the same bed, but with their backs to one another. They were so close to each other, but never so far away.


	4. Chapter 4

“Bev for Stan, over.” Beverly stretched her rather long legs out in the large bath jacuzzi, releasing the button of the walkie-talkie as she waited to hear back.

She stared down at her nails, a frown on her face when she noticed that they were chipping. Of course, that didn’t really matter as it would all come off in six days for some fresh nail polish, but it still annoyed her enough that she would have to repaint them. She wondered if Eddie would let her paint his nails also.

“Beverly, it is six o’clock in the morning. Why are you up?”

Stan’s sleepy voice sounded in from the other side, and Beverly waited a beat before rolling her eyes and pressing the talk button. “You’re supposed to say ‘over’ when you’re finished talking, Stan. Over.”

“This is ridiculous, Beverly. Go back to sleep. _Over_.”

Stan sat up in the bed, his eyes glazing over a half asleep Bill, who seemed agitated by the loud walkie talkie. In response, Stan turned it down slightly.

“No, Stan. You promised you would help me with operation get Richie and Eddie back together. There’s no going back, now stay up and talk to me. Over.”

Stan groaned quietly at Beverly’s persistence, resting his head back against the pillow as he turned to look at Bill who was staring back at him. That definitely startled him a bit.

“Fine, Bev. Why do we need to talk about this early in the morning?” When there was nothing but radio silence on the other end, Stan sighed once he realized why. “Over.”

“Do you think they made up last night? Over.”

“Why are you guys doing this?” Bill’s tired voice was speaking up before Stan could reply to Bev, and he turned his head to look over at his boyfriend. “I don’t think it’s gonna work the way you guys are hoping. Why not just let it happen organically?”

Stan sighed again. “Because Richie is an idiot and Eddie is stubborn. Bev just figured they needed a little… boost.” He answered, pressing his thumb back down on the talk button. “That’s a negative, Miss Marsh. Richie texted me last night and told me that they got into an argument… Over.”

“It sounds like you guys are doing a _great_ job.” Bill got out sarcastically, and Stan nudged him with a small frown.

“Hey, c’mon. We’re trying. You should have heard the way Richie was talking a few days ago. He just kept going on and on about how scared and excited he was to be seeing Eddie again for the first time.” Though, if Stan was being honest, he could feel mostly fear radiating off from his best friend.

Beverly’s voice crackled in on the walkie talkie again, sounding uncertain. “Maybe getting them a room together was a mistake.”

Stan and Bill made eye contact with each other, and Bill shrugged his shoulders slightly as he sat up.

As stubborn as Eddie was, Bill knew that Eddie was still hurting from the breakup that happened years ago. He could still remember himself, Ben, and Mike being there for Eddie when it had all gone down.

If it hadn’t been for Richie’s and Eddie’s anniversary coming up during the week that Richie had broke it off, none of them would have been in New York in order to comfort the two.

_“What’s w-wrong with me? W-w-what did I do to him?” A trembling sob fell past Eddie’s lips after the words, and Bill tugged the smaller boy closer in his arms as if to protect him._

_Four of them sat cramped up on Eddie’s loveseat, the heartbroken boy in the middle while the rest of them surrounded him with hugs and comforting touches._

_“Eddie, there’s nothing wrong with you. Whatever reasons Richie had for leaving, it probably had nothing to do with you.” Ben tried reassuring Eddie once again._

_All three of them had had a chance to read over the letter that Richie left for Eddie, and when Bill suggested Eddie throw it out, Eddie ended up having another asthma attack._

_“R-Richie… He never had a problem saying things to my face. What if I-I did something wrong a-a-and he couldn’t bare to see me?”_

_Of the few hours they had spent there, Eddie had come up with hypothetical reasons of why Richie left that they would have to immediately try and debunk. At one point, they had began to analyze the letter in an attempt to assure Eddie that he was wrong in his thinking, but all it achieved was dissolving Eddie into a sobbing mess._

_“Eddie, listen. Look at me.” Bill’s voice was firm as he forced a red-eyed Eddie to look up at him. “We don’t know why Richie did this. We don’t. We talked to Bev and Stan earlier, and they said Richie was just as broken up over the situation, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think that it’s your fault. I don’t think that Richie left because of you.. And if he did? Well, that’s just his loss. Stop blaming yourself for this, Eddie.”_

_Mike and Ben nodded and grumbled their affirmations of Bill’s words. Of course, that would be easier said than done, but he felt like Eddie needed to hear those words. Maybe if Richie had said them to Eddie face-to-face, Eddie wouldn’t have been so torn._

“We’re gonna need to do plan B. Over.” Beverly announced into the walkie talkie.

“Wait, what was plan A? You know, you’re not doing a great job at keeping me in the know, Bev. Over.”

Beverly snorted, swinging her leg back and forth as she stared at the door. Every now and then, she would strain to hear if Ben was still snoring on the other side.

“Guys, seriously? It’s six in the goddamn morning. Also, Beverly, why are we using these walkie talkies? Couldn’t we just have - I don’t know, group texted?” Mike’s deep, sleep-worn voice came crackling through on the third walkie talkie.

“You’re supposed to say over when you’re finished talking, Mike. Over.” Beverly grinned when Stan groaned in response to her words. “That’s ‘ _ughhhhh_ , over’, Mr. Uris. Over.”

“Has Ben ever told you how annoying you can be, Bev? _Over_.”

“Wait, can my walkie talkie code name be Black Dynamite? Over.”

There was a scuffling coming from one of the talkies, and the bright voice of Whitney popped in. “Beverly, you’re doing great, sweetie. Just remember that this is your wedding week.” There was a brief pause. “Oh, right. Over.”

Beverly pursed her lips together at the statement, opting not to reply. For her, the best wedding gift would be to see her best friends happy again, and she wouldn’t be able to rest until everything was as it was supposed to be.

—

_He was suffocating. He had to be suffocating. Eddie could see his friends on the ground, waving up at him as some invisible force pulled him up towards the clouds. The higher he got, the smaller his friends got, and the less he could breathe._

_His friends slowly became dots on the ground, and the gaseous clouds around him started swirling, a sickening smell of smoke overwhelming his already suffocated senses. **“I loved you.”**_

Eddie woke with a start, his eyes snapping open and his shaking hands gripping the sheets. What the hell kind of nightmare was that? His breathing was a bit shallow as he worked to steady it, one of his hands patting the now-empty spot next to him.

Once Eddie fully regained his composure, the burning smell from his nightmare began to permeate his senses again, startling him. Not only that, but he could suddenly feel just how cold the room was, his small body trembling even though he was snuggled underneath the comforter.

As he sat up slowly, his eyes couldn’t help but move over to a form across the room, feeling immense relief when he saw that it was Richie. The other boy was sat up on the ledge of the window from inside, shirtless, while staring outside of the open window with a cigarette between his lips. That explained why Eddie smelled smoke.

It was raining outside. Richie loved the rain.

Eddie stayed quiet, unsure if Richie knew that he’d awaken. He allowed his eyes to trail over Richie’s bare back and the side of his torso, covered in multiple colored tattoos. It wasn’t something Eddie was used to seeing.

He’d caught a glimpse of a comic book, the death star, Tetris, and the joker. Just as his eyes began to move down Richie’s lower back, they shot back up at the sight of another tattoo near his shoulder. A tiny squeak involuntarily fell past Eddie’s lips once he confirmed what he saw.

“Good morning, Eds.” Richie’s voice was thicker than usual, but Eddie didn’t respond, only staring over at Richie in shock. The lack of an answer caused Richie to turn his head over to look at Eddie, removing the cigarette from between his lips. “I know you’re a morning bird, but I wanted to smoke before– Are you okay? Listen, I tried to wake up earlier than you so that I wouldn’t bother you. I know how you feel about me smoking in hotels, blah blah blah.”

Richie’s voice felt far away to Eddie, and he almost didn’t catch a word that Richie spoke to him.

Instead of responding, Eddie slowly got out of bed, ignoring the cold chill that crept up and down his legs and caused the hairs of them to stand on end.

By the time he was halfway over to Richie, he could see the tattoo clearly, and that sent more chills through his frame than the chilly air had. It was written in gorgeous cursive that Eddie could only imagine mimicking.

“I-Is that… my name…?”

Richie’s eyes widened at Eddie’s words, and his heart had damn near left his chest. He knew exactly what Eddie was talking about.

Richie stood up, shaking his head a few times as he slowly reached for his Hawaiian button up on the ground nearby. “No, no, no… It’s not. It’s just a spelling error, uhm… I wanted it to say…” Fuck. Why couldn’t Richie think? “Teddy! Yeah, that’s what I wanted it to say.”

Eddie watched Richie morph into panic mode right in front of his eyes, but he couldn’t really judge - he was, quite frankly, in the same boat. Why did Richie get his name tattooed on him?

“Richie–”

“I was drunk, alright?” Richie slid his arms into the shirt, leaving it unbuttoned before he looked at Eddie with hesitant eyes. “I was drunk, a-and we went to the shop and.. I just had you on my mind that night, alright? I just. I couldn’t get you out my mind, Eds, and that tattoo happened. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Eddie stood in the middle of the room, dumbfounded. Out of all the stupid shit drunken Richie could have gotten tattooed on him, he went for Eddie’s name.

Richie wished that Eddie would say something. He knew he had to look like a creep or something, getting his ex’s name tattooed onto his shoulder after they’d broken up. He wanted Eddie to yell at him - anything. Anything was better than the silence.

Tentatively, Eddie made his way over to Richie and grabbed the collar of the button up once he was close enough, pushing it down slightly. He ignored Richie’s body tensing up, scanning over the tattoo on Richie’s pale skin now that he could see it better.

A moment later, they both made eye contact, and Eddie gave him a tiny smile. “Don’t really sweat it, Richie… Tattoos are dumb, anyway. Your artist did a pretty nice job, though.”

Richie could feel relief running through his veins as he stared down at Eddie, a quiet chuckle falling past his pink lips. “So you like it, then?”

“Eh. Don’t know that I’d go that far.”

Eddie joking with Richie broke the ice a little, both of them breaking out into light laughter at the words. Soon it grew quiet again, and Eddie realized just how close they were to each other.

Richie’s gaze flickered down to Eddie’s lips briefly before meeting the smaller male’s eyes again, tension suddenly tainting the air.

They both jumped back from each other, however, when three loud knocks sounded against the door of their room. “Yo, it’s me, Mike!”

Eddie awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck, a hand toying with the bottom of his white T as he called back out to their friend. “Yes, Mike?”

“Bev’s waking everybody up. She says we have a long day ahead of us, so we should get ready and eat breakfast. You two all good in there?”

“Yeah.” They both called out simultaneously, making fleeting eye contact before looking away from one another.

This was gonna be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are all now caught up! hopefully i'll get the next chapter up soon. <3 tell me what you guys think so far!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey friends! sorry for the delay! i wrote a blurb for the story a couple a days on tumblr. if you'd like to read it, i'll link it below
> 
> https://losvcr.tumblr.com/post/167124061361/rain-reddie-a-blurb
> 
> hope you guys enjoy this chapter! things are steaming on ahead, be patient with the story please. we're on a journey. <3

“Richie, frosting does not turn muffins into cupcakes!”

“Of course it does. If there’s frosting, it’s a cupcake. If not, it’s a muffin. It’s not that hard to grasp, Eds.”

“No, no, no, no, no. You’re wrong. They’re completely different recipes! You don’t know what you’re talking about, per usual. Y’know, I’m convinced you like to disagree just for the sake of it.”

Both men walked through the hotel lobby together, a frown of frustration locked in on Eddie’s face while a smirk that only spelled mischief was residing on Richie’s.

“Hey, look. They’re talking again, and they’re arguing. That’s some sort of normalcy.” Stan commented from their breakfast table, rolling his eyes playfully.

Bill’s expression was one of unease, but Beverly’s was one of glee. Out loud, she wanted to say _‘this just might work, guys’_ , but one glance at her fiance who was chowing down pancakes like it was the first meal he had eaten in years, told her to keep her mouth shut and to revel internally.

It wasn’t as if Bill didn’t want Eddie and Richie to get back together. He wasn’t an idiot; the two were still clearly in love with one another. He remembered the last conversation he’d had on the phone with Eddie.

_“Bill, I’m really scared…” Eddie’s voice practically trembled as he quietly spoke the words into the phone._

_“Eddie, it’s gonna be okay. Really. Just take a deep breath, alright?” The conversation went silent, Bill taking a small pause while thinking of what to say next. “You’re not obligated to come early. Just the wedding party. No one would be upset.”_

_Except for Richie, Bill understood. Bill also understood it didn’t matter, considering Richie had been the one to end their relationship. He was still trying figure out how Richie worked and why he did what he did, but it was futile for Bill; it was futile for all of them. Richie wouldn’t say anything._

_“...I know. It’s just..” Eddie trailed off, chewing on his lower lip with a small frown. “I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past few days and--” Eddie found himself pausing again, the hesitance obvious. “I miss him, Bill. I really miss him, and I hate myself for it. It’s been **five years**. Even if we didn’t date anymore… I still wanted him as friend.”_

_Bill began to frown himself when he heard Eddie’s voice shaking in a way that meant tears. “I know, Eddie. I get it. It’s not weird to feel like that because you guys were best friends first. It’s okay to miss him. He… he misses you too.”_

_Eddie scoffed. “He has a **great** way of showing it.”_

_“I didn’t say he makes it obvious, Eddie. But he does miss you. Listen, though--” Bill pursed his lips together, before continuing. “You belong there just as much as he does, alright? We’d really like for you to come early too, Eddie. I’d be here for you whenever you need support.” He promised._

_“...I’ll come.” Eddie whispered._

Bill wanted Richie and Eddie to be friends again, if not spark back up their relationship. He just wasn’t sure if the others meddling in would do the trick.

“Good morning, Richie and Eddie!” Beverly exclaimed loudly in a sing-song tone, unable to hide her excitement as she bounded over towards the startled duo, pulling both of them into a warm embrace.

“If she gets anymore elated, Richie and Eddie will think something is up.” Mike joked quietly, reaching across the table to nudge Stan who narrowed his eyes in response.

“Bev’s in a great mood this morning. I wonder why.” Ben added on, watching her talk excitedly to nonplussed Eddie and Richie. “I’ll take that over an angry Bev.”

Mike, Stan, and Whitney exchanged looks, before suddenly becoming interested in the plates of food in front of them.

Once they’d gotten their food, Eddie found a seat next to Mike, and Richie sat next to Beverly. Occasional, quiet conversation surfaced around the table while they all ate, but the attention seemed to gravitate towards Eddie and Richie.

Eddie would stare down at his plate, slowly eating, before letting his eyes flicker up to glance at Richie, who had already been staring at him. He would turn bright red, before returning his gaze back down to his plate. This happened for what seemed like the entire breakfast, and if Beverly could grin any wider, she probably would.

\---

“We are all so happy for the union of Beverly and Ben coming up! As per Beverly’s wishes, I am here to aid in bringing all of you closer with some activities.”

The group of friends sat squished on a couch together in an event hall; Beverly sat in Ben’s lap while Whitney sat in Mike’s, Stan and Bill sat next to each other with limbs practically tangled, and Eddie and Richie sat next to each other, Eddie leaning forward on his knees and Richie sitting back with his arm strewn over the back of the couch.

In front of them stood a tall, bubbly blonde named Shelley, who seemed as if she’d had too many cups of coffee that morning. Despite the rainy weather, she dressed in shorts and a tank top, her demeanor uncomfortable as if it were too _hot_. Eddie found himself wondering how she felt when the weather was actually nice.

Their expressions were blank, save for Beverly who seemed to be in a state of euphoria, them all trying to figure out what was about happen.

“I have five activities for you couples, and it seems as if--”

Eddie cleared his throat loudly, cutting off the woman off and causing everyone’s eyes to flit over to him. He hadn’t meant to do it, but it seemed like he had already gathered their attention. Red faced, he decided to speak. “Um… There’s only three couples here. I, um…” He couldn’t even bring himself to look over at Richie.

“Oh, that’s okay, honey! Beverly told me that a friend and his ex are here, yes? I’m assuming it’s you, and the guy next to you. You guys are friends, right? If so, you both can still participate together.”

This couldn’t get any worse. Eddie shot a pointed look at Beverly, who threw him an apologetic frown.

“Eds, it’s… It’s okay if you don’t want to.” He was surprised to hear Richie speaking up, and he finally turned his head to look at the other male, witnessing a small pout on his expression. “We can just sit out and watch.”

He didn’t want to be a party pooper. He already felt like he’d done it the other day. _This is Beverly and Ben’s week_.

Eddie glanced back over at the engaged couple, seeing a hopeful glint in Bev’s eyes, and he let out a tiny, frustrated huff to himself. “No, it’s fine. We can do it.”

They all jumped slightly when the woman in the front began to clap loudly, a grin that could rival Beverly’s stretched widely across her red painted lips. “Amazing! This is great! As I was explaining, I have five activities for you all in order to bring you closer as a couple. The first activity I have is called _Count On Me_. C’mon, up to your feet! Up, up, up!”

“How does she have so much energy this early in this morning?” Mike groaned playfully, ushering Whitney up as they all began to stand.

Eddie didn’t want to do this. It was one thing having to face Richie, and this morning had been enough of a bombshell for him. Now they had to do couple activities when they weren’t even together anymore after a painful break-up? He wanted to throw up and cry all at the same time.

“You’ll all race one another in this game. The starting line is all the way down there--” She pointed across the hall. “All the way to down there.” Shelley then pointed in the opposite direction. On both ends was a long piece of yellow tape, marking the start and finish.

“You will stand on one another’s feet and race to the finish line. The couple who makes it there first will win. If your partner falls off, you have to stop and get situated again before you can continue forward.”

“Jesus Christ, we’re not kids anymore. I have bad feet.” Ben joked, grabbing Beverly’s hand and tugging her towards the start line.

The rest of them trudged down as well, and all Eddie could do was feel internal panic. He didn’t think he was ready for this.

“When I say go, you can go.”

Beverly stood onto Ben’s feet, Whitney stood on Mike’s, Stan stood on Bill’s, and Eddie stood on Richie’s.

Eddie felt like his heart would leap out of his chest when he felt Richie’s lanky arms wrap securely around his waist, pressing him flush against Richie’s body. He hadn’t been this close to Richie in years.

“Ready…. Set…. go!”

The four set off, and the air instantly erupted into laughter and goading. Eddie himself was even laughing, doing his best to stay stiff while he held onto Richie’s shoulders in an attempt not to fall. Richie was moving fast.

Mike and Whitney were neck and neck with him and Richie, Bill and Stan right on their tails and Beverly and Ben lagging the most.

“You’re losing, Tozier!” Mike prodded as he sped up past them, Whitney poking her tongue out at them playfully. This caused Eddie’s mouth to drop open in shock. The disrespect.

“Richie, we are _not_ losing. Speed up!” Eddie laughed, one of his hands reaching to squeeze the back of Richie’s neck gently.

A chill shot down Richie’s spine at this, and he tightened his arms around Eddie’s waist, his heart racing. He wanted to say it was because of the adrenaline coursing through him due to the activity, but he knew it was because of Eddie.

Richie picked up the speed, but it was fruitless. He’d crossed the finish line a split second after Mike.

“It was totally a tie!” Richie argued breathlessly with a grinning Mike.

“No, Shelley, tell them that we won!”

Shelley smiled fondly at the couples, letting the argument drag on a little longer before she broke in. “Mike and Whitney win this one.”

Mike and Whitney broke out into cheers, Mike picking up Whitney and spinning her around in victory.

Richie had a sour look on his face, and Eddie gave him a soft smile, nudging him gently. “Hey, cheer up. At least we didn’t come in last place.” He teased, looking over at Beverly and Ben - they both had narrowed eyes at Eddie, causing the others to break out into laughter.

\---

They’d gone through three other activities.

She called the next activity a _Ribbon Run_ , and the couples had to break off in pairs to scavenge pieces of ribbon and tie them together. At the end, whichever couple had the longest ribbon was the winner. Eddie and Richie couldn’t stop arguing about where to look long enough, placing them in last place. The ultimate winners had been Bill and Stan with a two foot long ribbon.

The third activity had been a sort of drawing charades game called _Win, Lose, or Draw_. Nearly each couple had been dysfunctional; Richie kept guessing ‘dick’ for whatever Eddie drew, despite none of the words having a sexual nature to it. “It was a damn rose, Richie! How the hell did you get dick out of this?”

The ultimate winners had been Ben and Beverly. Eddie supposed the smoothness of their run had been due to their careers. They’d guess nearly every word the other was drawing within moments.

The fourth activity had been the _Newlywed Game_ , which, Eddie tried not to freak out over. It had been five years. How was he supposed to remember things about Richie and vice versa, while expecting the other to answer the same?

None of them had been expecting to hear that Richie and Eddie were the winners when Shelley tallied up the totals.

Eddie’s face had turned bright red again, and he couldn’t make eye contact with Richie, but he could feel Richie staring at him. He didn’t understand how that was possible. They’d been friends forever, but five years was a long time. Had nothing really changed?

There was one last activity left that Shelley had called _Romantic Poetry_ , making sure to tell Eddie and Richie that they could do it in a friendly way. Shelley had grabbed Ben, Bill, Mike, and Richie, pulling them out of the room. She hadn’t quite explained what the activity was - the activity name seemed fairly straightforward, but somehow, Eddie was nervous.

“You good, Eddie?” Stan asked softly, scooting closer to him on the couch.

“Yeah, uh.. I’m fine. Just. Hungry.” He lied, as he had been doing for the last day and a half. He really didn’t want to ruin the mood.

“Well, we’ll be eating after this. I hope you guys had a good time.” Bev spoke genuinely, giving Eddie a small smile.

Eddie shifted slightly, returning a fleeting smile to Beverly. He couldn’t lie as he said, “It was pretty fun.”

They sat on the couch talking for maybe fifteen minutes before the others were filing in, each holding a piece of paper in their hands.

“So, I’ve had these fellas find or write a piece of prose for their significant other. You all will judge the presentation based upon sincerity, inflection, and delivery. Whoever wins will get the title of ‘Most Romantic Man of the Year’.”

Eddie’s eyes widened at this. What the hell could Richie have possibly picked?

They went down the line. Ben was first, with a delivery of a Shakespearean monologue from Romeo & Juliet, dramatics fully fledged. Laughter was abundant, but Beverly had tears streaming down her face, practically throwing herself into Ben’s arms afterwards. Their love was one that made Eddie’s chest ache; he’d experienced that before.

Mike went for a speech, his words eloquent, polished and well spoken. It made sense for him to be in politics. They were all practically swooning as Mike poured his heart out to Whitney.

Bill had written a poem; It shocked Eddie how he could write something like that so quickly. The poem was beautiful and had moved Stan to tears, something that was rare.

All that was left was Richie.

Eddie forced himself to look up at the last standing male, and he was a little surprised to see the signs of nerves radiating off of Richie.

“Uh… I just decided to sing a song. Hope that’s cool.” He nodded, crumpling the paper in his hands.

When Richie began to sing a song from an old album of his acapella, Eddie could feel his stomach tightening in multiple knots that made him want to throw up. The song was _Remember When (Disappear)_.

Why would Richie sing this song to him? It had been a song about losing someone, but the words took on a different meaning.

Richie had only made it to the chorus before Eddie stood up, tears beginning to cascade down his face. He didn’t wait, ignoring the calls after him as he ran out of the hall and outside into the rain.

He had only made it a few feet, before a hand wrapped around his arm and forced him to stop. When he turned, he saw Richie’s frame towering over him.

“Eds…”

“Why would you sing that?! Why… Why did you leave me, Richie?!” A choked sob fell past Eddie’s lips as he reached hands up to push at Richie’s chest, watching him stumble back slightly. “What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Why?”

Richie’s face fell as he stared at Eddie, taking another step closer to him. “I… Eddie… I’m gonna tell you. I swear I am. I just. I can’t right now...”

“When, then? _When_?” Eddie demanded, reaching hands up to scrub at his eyes roughly. At least the rain helped to mask his tears.

“Soon. I’m.. I’m sorry, okay? Just come back inside.”

“Richie, I can’t keep doing this. My fucking chest hurts.. I need something!”

Eddie hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but it was easier to get angry than to allow the hurt to swallow him whole.

“Let’s talk, then.” Richie grabbed Eddie’s wrist gently without warning, tugging him towards a nearby cafe. They would talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you guys think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the next chappie, guys! things are going to get crazy after this chapter. i mean, this is probably the last slow chapter tbh. you guys will die with what i have next. tell me what y'all think!!! hang in there and enjoy this reprieve because it's about to get insane.
> 
> **warning:** there is some violence, so i just wanna give a heads up!

Eddie stared blankly across the table at Richie, still trying to wrap his mind around what Richie had just told him.

Meanwhile, Richie fumbled with his hands on the table, not having anything else to do as he anxiously waited for Eddie to say something. He was trying his best to be patient, knowing that Eddie would need a moment to process what he admitted, but he was sure they’d been sitting there for five minutes in awkward silence now.

He wondered if Eddie just didn’t know what to say, but he had that look on his face that let Richie know he was thinking.

Richie’s patience had run thin by the time another minute passed, and he opened his mouth to speak up, but Eddie beat him to it.

“So you… You left me because--” Eddie’s words were slow and indecisive, his eyebrows furrowing. “--because of the band? And… because you thought you didn’t deserve me?”

Richie reached a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, a soft sigh falling past his lips as he stared back at Eddie. “That’s the simplified version, yes.”

Richie had been much more thorough in his explanation minutes ago, but he understood that Eddie wasn’t going to regurgitate the entirety of his speech back to him. He simplified it.

Eddie simplified it, and when he did, it sounded stupid. That was what Richie had been afraid of.

“And,” Richie was quick to speak up before Eddie could. “That’s… I told you, Eds - That’s not all of it. You told me you wanted something, so I gave you some of it.”

Eddie allowed the conversation they’d just had to play over in his head again.

_When Richie pushed the door to the cafe open and the little bell rung to indicate their presence, eyes of the customers sitting around immediately focused in on him and Eddie. They weren’t exactly soaked, but it was clear that the rain was a force to be reckoned with._

_He stole a glance over at Eddie, not surprised by the red tint of Eddie’s cheeks; Eddie never liked being the center of attention._

_Richie was quick to tug Eddie along with him towards an open booth, and Eddie was grateful once the numerous pairs eyes that stared intrusively at them looked elsewhere._

_Eddie stared nervously across the table at Richie, who was staring right back at him. He had long stopped crying, and now, the only thing he felt was a bitter curiosity that he longed to quench._

_“Okay, so…” Richie soon began to fumble with his hands after those two words escaped past his lips, his nerves kicking in. Fuck, this was exactly why he had written a letter. Facing Eddie was difficult. “When… When I was working on the sophomore album with the guys, the label producers just kept harping about how we were expected to blow up and how we were most likely gonna go on a world tour--”_

_“Yes, Rich, I know this.” Eddie hadn’t meant to interrupt, hating that his impatience was showing. Of course Eddie knew of that - it was all Richie had been able to talk about for weeks. It was something Richie was obviously incredibly proud of, and Eddie had been proud of Richie, too._

_“Yeah.. Right. Sorry. Uh, alright, well.. The guys just started getting on my case about how difficult it was gonna be on me to do a long distance relationship, and they just kept going on and on about the possibilities…”_

_There were a few hypotheticals that bounced around in Richie’s head after his bandmates started bringing them to light. He tried to ignore them, but there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that told him they were right._

_“And then my thoughts, they, uh…” Richie paused awkwardly, reaching a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck as he looked everywhere except for Eddie’s eyes. “They just started spiralling after that. It was getting pretty dark up here, Eds.” His finger tapped at his skull a few times._

_“The one thing-- The **only** thing I started to think of was that..” Richie choked up, his mouth splayed open and his words stunted._

_Eddie watched Richie, concerned, feeling afraid over what it was that Richie couldn’t voice. He was already struggling to grasp all that he was being told. What if it was something horrific?_

_“I didn’t deserve you. I’ve felt like that our whole entire relationship, but I was selfish enough to keep it going because you were the best damn thing that happened to me, Eddie. It started getting worse when everyone kept telling me being in a relationship while the band was taking off was a terrible idea and that I should break it off so I could focus on the music. I didn’t care about that, but…” Richie trailed off, seemingly fumbling with his words again._

_“There’s… other reasons I left, but I don’t want to say them yet. This was hard enough to get out.”_

\---

_You don’t need it. You don’t need it. You don’t need it._

Eddie’s hands began to shake once he was finally able to process all that Richie had told him, and a small glare appeared on his face. Within those few minutes, he’d gone through the spectrum of emotions, and anger had won out. It was the easiest and least painful emotion to express.

Suddenly, Eddie reached over the table and began to smack Richie’s arms over and over again.

“You idiot!”

“Ah! Eds, wha-- Stop!” Richie winced, trying to block Eddie’s furious hands as best as he could, before he finally got a hold of them and held on tightly to stop Eddie. “Holy _shit_. In public, Eddie, really?”

Eddie’s breathing was slightly frenetic as he glared across the table at Richie, attempting to tug his hands away. “Let me go.”

“Why, so you can continue beating me? Tell me we’re gonna have a nice and calm conversation, and then I’ll let go.” Richie demanded.

They stared at each other, Eddie still attempting to pull his hands away and Richie unbudging, before the smaller male huffed in frustration and defeat.

“Fine.”

With that, Richie slowly let go of Eddie’s hands, and was relieved when Eddie retreated back to his side of the booth. He was sure most people underestimated Eddie’s strength, but Eddie was pretty strong, especially when he was upset. It was a feistiness that Richie loved, even when it was aimed at him.

Richie was poised to speak up again, but was cut off when a waitress appeared in front of them, flashing them a small, flustered grin as she placed menus on the table. A moment later, she took out a notepad and pen from her apron. “Hi, I’m so sorry about the wait and there was no host to sit you both. There was a small incident in the back that we needed to take care of. Anyways, I’m Kalani, and I’ll be taking your orders today. Can I start you two off with something to drink?”

Eddie looked back and forth between the waitress and Richie, before deadpanning, “Do you guys serve any kind of alcohol?”

A look of bewilderment crossed over the waitress’s face, and Richie internally facepalmed. 

“He’s kidding - He’s _just_ kidding. We’ll both take a cup of hot coffee.” 

Kalani looked over the two of them with narrowed eyes, but she didn’t voice whatever she was thinking as she wrote down Richie’s request, nodding afterwards. “I’ll be right back with that.”

Once the waitress disappeared behind the counter of the small cafe to put their drinks in, Richie’s eyes found Eddie’s again. “The sign says _family-friendly_ , Eddie.” Richie thumbed over to the neon lights on the glass windows by the entrance, right next to the open-close sign, that read the words Richie forenamed. Only the signs appeared backwards to them, as they were inside. “Are you really that upset?”

Eddie furrowed his brow at Richie’s question as if it were asinine. “I just found out my boyfriend broke up with me because of his band and because he thought he didn’t deserve me, so yeah, I’m a _little_ upset, Richie.”

“See, _this_ is why I didn’t want to say anything.” Richie frowned, feeling his neck heating up from frustration and embarrassment. “I knew I would tell you, and you’d make me feel stupid about it.”

“Richie, you know I’m not trying to make you feel stu--”

“Yeah? Well, you are, Eddie.”

The conversation went silent again.

All either could do was stare across the table at one another, the same frown present on both of their faces.

Eddie’s eyes suddenly flitted down to Richie’s hand on the table, watching it shake uncontrollably, and he felt a pang of guilt. With a soft sigh, he reached over and placed his hand on top of Richie’s in an effort to stop the shaking.

“ _Look_ ,” Eddie started, meeting Richie’s eyes again. “Richie, I.. I don’t think you’re stupid, okay? I never did, and I’m sorry if I made you feel as if your feelings were invalid. It’s just a lot to swallow. I wish you would’ve talked to me instead of writing a damn letter, but… Thank you for telling me some of it now.”

Eddie watched Richie’s eyes carefully, the cloudiness of them dissipating some. He could tell that the swirling of his eyes was due to relief.

He wasn’t expecting for Richie’s hand flip over and grasp his, his heart skipping a beat at the sudden gesture; and, Eddie was sure his heart was going to leap out of his chest when he noticed the way Richie was looking at him.

“Eddie, I’m… I’m really sorry, okay? I know I fucked up, and I know that it might still take a long time for you to forgive me, but,” Richie paused, his eyes filling with uncertainty. “Do you think we can try to be friends again?”

Eddie had forgotten how cute it was when Richie got nervous. It was such a rare occurrence.

“I think…” Eddie gave Richie’s hand a small squeeze, before he withdrew back to his side of the table. He allowed Richie to sweat it out for a few more beats - he was definitely getting some form of retribution. Finally, he gave Richie a small smile. “I think we can try.”

An audible sigh of relief escaped Richie’s mouth, which caused Eddie to laugh out loud and for Richie to roll his eyes playfully.

Truthfully, Richie hadn’t expected Eddie to agree. Eddie could be stubborn when he wanted to be, and Richie had been so sure Eddie wasn’t going to let him off the hook until he told the full story. He was, of course, pleasantly surprised when Eddie accepted Richie’s desire to be friends, despite the lack of complete information.

He thanked whatever God that might’ve been out there for this.

\---

“Oh my god… No you didn’t… _Richie_.” Eddie let out a shocked laugh, one of his hands moving up to cover his mouth as he watched Richie across the table with wide eyes.

“Listen, it wasn’t my fault.” Richie said, a smirk twitching on the corner of his lips. “I didn’t realize there was a fuckin’ _old lady_ in the crowd. It’s a punk rock concert, for crying out loud. I wasn’t expecting Grandma Betty to be rocking out with everyone.”

Richie slid the coffee mug in small, continuous circles on the surface of the glossy table, the little bit of now-cold coffee whirling around inside the cup from the manipulation.

“When I crowd surf, I’m thinking there’s gonna be people who can carry me. You know whose fault it was? The people who didn’t help granny to keep me afloat.”

Eddie couldn’t help but let out a choked laugh, reaching a shaky hand up to swipe underneath his watery eyes. Sure, perhaps it was a little evil to laugh at an older lady getting squashed by Richie’s weight, but the imagery was too confounding _not_ to laugh at.

Besides that, it had been a long time since he’d have a laugh like that.

No one could make him laugh like the way Richie did.

“Richie, that’s terrible.” Eddie teased.

“She was fine! That was one strong Grandma Betty. She even gave me a hug after we got up and jokingly told me to lose some weight.”

If Richie lost anymore weight, he would be skeletal.

“You know.. I don’t even remember when that happened. It was the same night that we dropped our new single that year. I think it was like, August 12th.” Richie furrowed his eyebrow in concentration.

“Wait, in 2015? I’m pretty sure you guys dropped the single on August 14th.” Eddie was word vomiting before he could stop himself. 

Once Eddie realized what came out of his mouth and what it implied, his face turned bright red.

Eddie could feel Richie’s gaze piercing him, but his eyes had already focused down to his empty coffee cup, feeling a panic beginning to spread through his veins. _Fuck, fuck, fuck_.

He had avoided seeing any images of Richie, but he had been keeping tabs on how the band was doing. That didn’t mean he wanted Richie to _know_ that he’d been keeping up.

“Yeah… August 14th. That was the date.” Richie practically whispered, tension building up within the air.

Before anything else could be said, a shrill “there you are!” sounded from the front of the cafe.

Both Eddie and Richie looked over to see Beverly and Stan stomping towards them. Beverly’s neck length hair was plastered to her skin from dampness, but her clothes seemed spared by the raincoat she wore. Stan also wore a raincoat, but his curls appeared to be saved by the hood of coat.

“Oh shit, Eds. She looks _pissed_.” Richie breathed, but the grin on his face let Eddie know that Richie wasn’t taking it seriously.

Within seconds, Bev and Stan arrived at their booth, and Beverly placed both hands on her hips with a small glare on her face. “Sooooo… Neither of you have phones?”

Sheepishly, Eddie went fishing through his pocket right as Richie did, and his mouth nearly dropped open when he saw the amount of missed calls on his screen from their friends.

“Holy shit, Bev. 27 missed calls? I didn’t think you’d miss me _that_ much-- Ouch! What is up with everyone being abusive towards Richie today? I’m gonna call the cops on you people.”

“I’m sorry, Beverly.” Eddie apologized immediately, his face still bright red from earlier, and Beverly’s gaze softened.

“It’s okay, Eddie. You guys just scared the shit out of us. One second you guys were there, and the next second, poof - couldn’t find you anywhere.” She let out a frazzled laugh, and Eddie was confused by the look that was beginning to develop on Bev’s face.

“Yeah. Mike and Whitney even went back to the hotel to see if you guys had run off there. It’s been like, forty-five minutes.” Stan chimed in, the same look Beverly had merging onto his face.

Why the hell were they looking like that?

“It’s nice to see that you two are together and in one piece.” Bev smirked, “So, how was the coffee date?”

Eddie eyes widened and he choked on air, letting out loud coughs while sputtering all over.

“Woah, take it easy, Eddie. Breathe.” Stan coaxed, starting to run a soothing hand over Eddie’s back, and Eddie’s eyes briefly met with Richie’s once he started to calm; Richie’s eyes were blank. He couldn’t read them.

“Where’s Bill and Ben?” Eddie choked out as soon as he could, wanting anything but to have the conversation he felt was gearing up.

“They’re out in the rental, waiting for us.” Stan answered.

“I actually think we’re done here.” Richie murmured, fumbling with his pocket before drawing out his wallet. “Just let me pay, and we can get out of here.”

Eddie looked at Richie again, trying to figure out if anything was wrong. It didn’t seem like it was, but he was acting a little weird.

He hoped that he hadn’t already crushed their reignited friendship.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait guys!!! My lovely beta did NOT look over this chapter, so it's probably not as good as the rest, but I think I made up for that with length! I hope you guys still enjoy it. It's starting to take off now, and we got a few chapters left!
> 
>  **Warning:** There is some very slight NSFW content towards the end of the chapter, read at your own discretion!

The days were steaming right on by.

Time had seemed to slow when Eddie first arrived, but after day two, time sped up like a rocketship. Now they were on night four. It seemed like just yesterday when he and Richie agreed to have another go at their friendship.

In just three days, Beverly and Ben would be married.

It was all a blur in his head; There had a lot of wedding business going on, such as last minute tux and dress adjustments, and visiting the beach where Ben and Bev intended to get married. Eddie, not being apart of the wedding party, was solely a witness to the last minute mad dash.

It rained a lot unexpectedly, too. Eddie wondered if the clouds would clear up before the wedding day.

They had a lot of recreational time as well, but Beverly always made sure to leave them all exhausted by the time they would all retire to their hotel rooms for the night.

\---

“Damn. Eddie, your nails look so good. Am I a goddess or what?” Bev squealed, holding Eddie’s nails up towards the light.

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully in response. “Yeah, they look good, Bev. You know I don’t really care for nail polish.”

“Yeah, but they’re the accent color of the wedding. You can at least _pretend_ like you care.” She joked, a small pout on her lips as her thumb and pointer finger pinched and took the cigarette that Richie was holding out to her.

“Did you like, highlight his nails or something? I can see the shine from over here. I’m blind.” Whitney also joked from across the room, sitting on Mike’s lap who sat on the floor with the rest of them.

“Can we change this song? I hate it.” Stan mumbled this with a smirk.

Richie’s mouth dropped open, and offense was written on his face.

“That’s my song, you dick.” He glared playfully, throwing a white card in Bill and Stan’s direction as an attempt of retaliation.

They were all sat in Beverly and Ben’s master suite, hanging out after the dinner since they’d all agreed they weren’t tired.

Currently, a game of _Cards of Humanity_ was taking place.

“Thanks for the card, Rich.” Stan teased.

“It doesn't matter, anyway. Whitney’s got this in the bag.” Richie said bitterly. “I didn’t even want to give it to her when I was the curator, but ‘another shitty year’ as an answer to what someone wakes up to after blacking out on New Year’s Eve was gold.”

Mike laughed at Richie’s obvious disdain. “Yeah, because Whitney’s amazing, Richie. I could’ve told you that.”

In response, Whitney smiled wide and braced her hands underneath her chin as if to say ‘I know’.

Moments later, a loud yawn reverberated from Ben, and everyone’s eyes landed on him as he stretched his strong limbs out. “I’m getting tired, guys.”

“What?” Beverly’s mouth fell open, as if the words her fiance spoke were blasphemous.

“Honestly? I kinda am too, guys.” Eddie admitted through his own yawn passed by Ben, moving onto his knees. “I think I’m gonna head to bed.”

“Uhm, no! No one is going to bed yet. C’mon, don’t be old people. Let’s just play another game. How about Truth or Dare?” Beverly suggested.

A collective groan sounded around the room at this.

“Bev, how old are we, twelve?” Bill teased.

It seemed like the rest of them were also ready to retire for the night, even if they hadn’t spoken it outloud like Ben and Eddie. Their actions spoke louder; Stan was laid back on the carpeted floor, Bill was slouched over onto his own outstretched legs, and Whitney had snuggled into Mike’s neck with her eyes closed. The only one who seemed fine was Richie, but he had always been a night bird.

However, Beverly seemed undeterred by the signs of exhaust from her best friends.

“You can never go wrong with Truth or Dare. C’mon, everyone up!” Bev urged, eliciting more groans of complaint.

Still, they did as Beverly demanded and started to sit up straight again.

“I feel like we’re with Shelley again.” Mike teased. That earned a playful glare from Beverly.

Once everyone was settled back up, Beverly spoke. “ _I’ll_ start. Stan, Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.” Stan said immediately, as if he didn’t know why it was a question, before taking a sip from his water.

“ _Lame_.” Richie teased, earning a middle finger from Stan in response.

Bev folded his fingers over her outstretched, crossed knees, and watched this, an astute smile resting on her pink lips. Finally, she said, “Tell us about your first kiss.”

Stan choked on his water.

Bill quickly reached behind his boyfriend and patted his back to try and alleviate the choking coming from Stan, a frown on his face. “You okay, babe?”

Stan nodded his head quickly. His face bright red from both his choking and from what Beverly requested. “No. I-I’m not talking about that.”

“Oh, c’mon, Stan. You’re already losing the game?” Bev questioned a little too innocently, her eyes wide and doe-like as if she had no clue what she’d done.

“Beverly, drop it.” Richie snapped from next to her. Gazes of confusion started to infiltrate their group.

“Alright, alright. Fine. Stan, ask someone, then. I don’t have anything else.” Stan was practically glaring at Beverly.

“Bill, truth or dare?” He asked a little too harshly. It was clear that Beverly’s inquiry was somewhat of a sore spot.

Eddie wondered what it was that caused both Stan and Richie to react so severely. Had Richie been Stan’s first kiss? If so, Richie hadn’t told him. Eddie hated how badly the thought of Richie and Stan kissing annoyed him.

“Truth.” Bill answered, almost nervously.

“Who was your first crush?” Stan finally asked, and Beverly scoffed slightly.

“We already know I was Bill’s first crush--”

“Actually,” Bill broke in, causing everyone to focus in on his burning face. “You weren’t my first crush, Beverly.”

The room went silent, but the silence spoke loud and clear: _Who_?  
“Uh.. my first crush was actually Eddie.”

More silence.

The tension within the room was palpable, and Eddie was now blushing profusely. This was complete news to him - Eddie didn’t have any clue that Bill used to have feelings for him. He had been in love with Richie since they were young kids, so perhaps that explained his ignorance to Bill’s crush.

He actively evaded everyone’s scrutiny as he pointedly stared down at his painted nails, which were suddenly much more fascinating than they’d originally been to him. He especially avoided Richie’s eyes.

After some long, awkward silence, Beverly hesitantly spoke up. “Okay, uh, that’s interesting to know. Uhm, Bill, your turn to ask someone.” Even confident Bev seemed slightly shaken up by this revelation from Bill.

While both Eddie and Bill avoided making eye contact with anyone else in the room, Stan and Richie made direct eye contact, their eyes having a silent conversation.

Soon, everyone else seemed to avoid Truth in favor for an unusually safer choice of Dare.

\---

“Eddie, it’s two o’clock in the morning. I’m turning the light _off_.” Richie grumbled from his spot next to Eddie in bed. He was a night owl, but Beverly had sufficiently tired them all out. He wanted to go to bed. Teasingly, Richie reached across Eddie for string to turn the lamp on and off, and he earned a reprimanding shove on the shoulder from his counterpart. “Eddie, c’mon.”

“Richie, stop! I told you, I _need_ to finish the rest of this _Twilight_ book so that I can ask the kids questions about it once I get back to New York. I’m almost done, alright? Just let me finish.”

They’d left Ben and Beverly’s room about thirty minutes ago after Ben ended up knocking out cold on their floor from exhaustion. After getting into bed, Eddie had pulled out the heavy _Twilight_ book and forced himself to start reading the mediocre-at-best book. He really did not get any fulfillment from Stephanie Meyer’s prose. While he could have easily looked up a synopsis of what happened, Eddie found that to be cheating, in a way. He wanted to be able to discuss the book in depth with the older children he read with at the hospital, even if he didn’t enjoy it as much as they seemed to.

“I thought you were _tired_.” Richie huffed in complaint. “Besides, those books are shit.” He added as he laid back against the pillow on his side, a small smirk on his lips.

“Uh, you wouldn’t know. You haven’t read them before.”

Eddie agreed with Richie, but he couldn’t say that outloud. He didn’t want to give Richie the satisfaction.

“I don’t have to get punched in the face to know it hurts. I mean, I have before - you know that. It don’t feel good, but that’s not the point.” Richie snickered at his own words. He’d gotten his ass handed to him pretty badly by Henry Bowers and his minions when he was a child. He’d also managed to get punched by folks who didn’t appreciate his trashmouth on multiple occasions.

Eddie glanced over at Richie, rolling his eyes playfully. “It’s not _that_ bad. There’s some saving grace moments...” 

The look of incredulity on Richie’s face provoked Eddie to bite at his lip in an attempt hide his smile. “Okay, fine. It’s bad, but this is the good part. Bella’s going to meet James because she thinks he’s kidnapped her mother. Here, I’ll read you some of it.”

Richie frowned immediately upon processing Eddie’s words, and began shifting away from him. “I will smack that book out of your goddamn hand, Eds. You are not reading me snippets of _Twilight_.”

“ _I stared around me, trying to find where her voice was coming from._ ” Eddie started narrating despite Richie’s claim that he wouldn’t, unable to stop the trickles of laughter escaping past his lips in between random words he read. “ _I heard her laugh, and I whirled to the sound._ ”

Richie’s hands harshly pushed the comforter off of his shirtless, tattooed frame, shifting to clearly get up. “I’m leaving.”

“No!” Eddie could no longer control any of his laughter, and before he could think about what he was doing, he swung a leg over Richie’s waist, shifting his weight on top of the other male. One of his hands then pushed at Richie’s torso until the other male was lying again.

Immediately afterwards, the pale flesh of Eddie’s face filled with warm color over his actions, and he tried not to think too hard about the new position they were in. This hadn’t been anything unusual when they were dating, but things were different now. This wasn’t normal anymore.

“Eddie, get off of me.” Richie huffed as if he were annoyed, but in actuality, his heart was hammering hard in his chest. He would’ve been surprised if Eddie couldn’t hear it. Richie stared up at the gorgeous man, taking in his shiny eyes and the brown tendrils that shadowed the milkiness of his skin, although the flawlessness of Eddie’s smooth flesh was interrupted by blotches of a pink blush. He was absolutely breathtaking.

“Nope. You’re gonna read with me.” Eddie’s voice was much smaller this time, almost as if he was shy, but he was just nervous. He’d long forgotten how it felt to be connected with Richie like this, and it was a little overwhelming. However, this didn’t stop the mischievous smile on his face, the book still firm in his grasp as he held it up and began to read outloud again.

Richie laid as still as a statue underneath Eddie, a look of distaste painted on his features. He was focusing on not placing his hands on Eddie’s waist like he wanted to while attempting to drown out the words Eddie tried forcing into his mind. That was when an idea hit him.

“No… we are not reading _Twilight._ ” Richie murmured the words to himself, staring up at Eddie who seemed distracted by the book. Good.

Richie allowed Eddie to think he was lying there and listening. As the seconds ticked on, Richie could feel Eddie’s body relaxing against his, and that was when he took his opportunity. Suddenly, one of hands reached up to rip the book away from Eddie’s grip, and at the same time, his hips pushed upwards and over until he was on top of Eddie.

Eddie was caught off guard, confirmed by the squeal that left his mouth when he was suddenly on his back. His wide eyes watched as Richie threw the book across the room, and his mouth dropped open in response. Soon, his cheeks began heating up at the feeling of Richie’s weight pressing into him, with the smell of cigarettes and Versace overwhelming his senses.

“What are you-- Stop!” Eddie’s eyes widened again when he felt Richie’s fingers tickling at the skin underneath his shirt and he let out a choked laugh, pushing at Richie’s hands.

Eddie hated being tickled. It was so bad that he was even ticklish at the thought of being tickled, and it was the worst when it was actually happening. Richie knew that. Richie knew that, and yet, still decided to torture him.

He did all that he could through his fierce laughing. He twisted and turned to try and knock Richie off of him, but all it did was cause Richie to settle harder into the bed and tickle him faster. Eddie felt like he was going to die - he could not breathe. What he hated most about being tickled was how something so excruciating make someone _laugh_. Even though loud laughs and giggles erupted past his pink lips, he wasn’t enjoying it. Not at all.

Finally, Richie stopped after a minute, and Eddie was thankful for the reprieve. His breathing was heavy as he glared up at Richie. “Get the fuck off of me, y-you asshole! You know I hate being tickled!”

Although Eddie had stopped laughing, laughter was abundant from Richie at Eddie’s anger and he stayed on top of Eddie, shaking his head slowly. Eventually, Richie’s laughter slowed, and he stared down at Eddie, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he spoke. “See, here’s what’s gonna happen, Spaghetti. You’re gonna apologize for trying to force me to read that book, and then I’ll get up. It’s simple.”

“Fuck you.” Eddie spat the words out before he could stop himself, and he braced himself for what he knew was going to follow - Richie’s expression flickered in the way that let Eddie know that he was going to pay for his harsh words. “Wait-- ah!”

Eddie’s small frame squirmed and writhed desperately underneath Richie once he started the tickling again, uncontrollable laughter seizing Eddie’s body and creating an ache in his sides. “N-No, st-stop!” Eddie begged, tears welling in his eyes. As a last frenzied attempt for respite, his hands latched onto Richie’s wrists and he tugged them away from his body as hard he could. “Please!”

In response to Eddie’s grabbing of his wrists, Richie stopped tickling him and stared down at the other male with a quizzical expression. “You really think that’s gonna stop me?”

“Pl-please..” Eddie wanted to reach up and wipe away the tears that rolled down the sides of his eyes and onto the sheets below, but he was not keen to the idea of releasing Richie’s wrists and making himself vulnerable to Richie’s reign of terror again. He needed the respite.

“I told you what you need to do.” Richie smirked, his eyes studying the desperateness behind Eddie’s. “You do that, and I stop. So, are you gonna say sorry?”

A defiant harrumph rose from Eddie’s throat, ignoring all of his survival instincts that screamed at him to just tell Richie what he wanted to hear. He was still trying to catch his breath from the tickling, and he was lucky to not have been sent into an asthmatic attack; With that thought, Eddie planned on using it as a defense, but it had been too late.

Eddie’s eyes widened when Richie not only broke out of his hold, but also quickly grabbed Eddie’s wrists with one of his sizeable hands and pushed them above his head before he could properly process.

He couldn’t even get a plea out before Richie started tickling him again. Eddie immediately cried out and began laughing, attempting to tug his wrists out of Richie’s grip as he became hysterical, but even his desperation to get away wasn’t enough to overpower the larger male.

Eddie’s knees dug into Richie’s hips and he attempted to throw the balance off with all of the waning strength he had left, but Richie only grounded his own knees deeper into the bed and pressed himself closer to Eddie. “Say it.” Richie demanded, focusing his tickling on Eddie’s sides where he was most ticklish. At any moment, Richie knew Eddie would cave.

“I’m sorry! I-I’m fucking s-sorry!” Eddie wailed through laughter, still writhing violently underneath Richie. He gave in, unable to handle another moment of the tickle torture. “Please R-Richie, I.. I-I’m sorry!”

Finally, Richie stopped, staring down at a glaring, crying Eddie with a victorious grin. A moment later, he released his grip on Eddie’s wrists and reached down to wipe at the tear streaks lain on Eddie’s skin. He knew Eddie was upset with him, but Richie considered his actions as reasonable payback.

Even though Richie told Eddie he would stop and get up if Eddie apologized, he hadn’t made an effort to move from his spot on top of Eddie. Instead, his eyes watched the other’s red face beginning to cool down, and his heaving chest slowing. Richie was sure that Eddie could be in the worst condition of his life, and Eddie would still be the most beautiful person Richie ever had the honor to lay eyes on.

It didn’t help his thoughts to be so close to Eddie like this; They ran rampant. His eyes soon locked in on Eddie’s plush lips, ones he had longed to kiss ever since the day he’d left. It was a craving like the nicotine that ate away at his lungs. He would have done anything to have just more hit. Just one more kiss.

Richie could see the questioning in Eddie’s eyes, but he didn’t attempt to explain. At least, not verbally. He was leaning down, and before he could stop himself, his lips pressed to Eddie’s for the first time in over five years. Almost immediately, a fire ignited within Richie that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Eddie had only started to calm down before he noticed the way that Richie was looking at him, and then it all unfolded so fast. One moment, he was staring up at Richie, confused, and then in the next, he felt his soft lips against his. Any and all air that Eddie might’ve retained left him, and his heart pounded hard against his chest once again, but the feeling was different. His eyes were wide and for a moment, he didn’t return the kiss. He was just too surprised to do anything about something he hadn’t been anticipating.

But then, it happened. He kissed Richie back.

Eddie’s eyes fluttered closed, and his arms automatically moved of their own volition to wrap loosely around Richie’s neck. Though there were many nights spent crying over the loss of someone he’d given his all to, there were just as many, if not more, nights spent yearning for the feeling of his lips again. It was almost as if Richie’s lips were molded specifically to fit with his, and that they were the only pair of lips to make him feel whole.

Eddie could feel Richie’s frame sinking further down onto his, and instead of feeling crushed, he felt comforted by Richie’s weight. It was like they were getting lost in one another, thrown back to a time where everything felt right.

A small gasp fell past Eddie’s lips at Richie’s teeth nibbling at his lower lip, and Richie took that moment to slide his tongue against Eddie’s. A warmth shot through Richie’s body, and he shuddered against Eddie while releasing a sigh into Eddie’s mouth. This was how it was supposed to be.

Their limbs tangled together, Eddie’s legs wrapping around Richie’s waist and Richie’s arms sliding underneath Eddie’s back to hold him close as their lips moved in sync. Eddie felt like his mind was slowly shutting down, and that the only thing he was capable of thinking was how much he missed this.

A soft whine melted into a moan when Eddie felt Richie’s hips slowly grind against his, and Eddie’s fingers instinctively twisted into Richie’s long, curly locks, giving it a tug. The sound that Richie emanated into his mouth in response to his tugging induced a heat within Eddie that he wasn’t prepared for, his body trembling and reacting.

After five years, it still felt like home to be wrapped up in each other. It was as if the world was closing in around them, and only they existed in this state of euphoria.

Neither of them had expected to hear a huge bump on ceiling above them, followed by distant laughter, which was the reason that they jerked apart in surprise. Their breathing was ragged as they stared at each other with wide eyes, and slowly, they started to break from their reverie.

Eddie could tell that Richie wanted to kiss him again. He could see it in the way that the male’s gaze would flicker from his eyes down to his lips, before darting back up to his eyes. He could see it in the way Richie licked his own lips. He could see it through the swirling of emotions just beyond his gorgeous irises.

Truth be told, Eddie wanted to kiss Richie again, too.

Instead, he let out an awkward laugh, before his hands pressed against Richie’s chest gently. Richie instantly complied to his pushing, and the comforting weight had shifted from Eddie’s body down onto the spot next to him. Progressively, Eddie could feel himself beginning to panic, and he was sure it was showing on his face a little as he sat himself up.

What could be said after a kiss with someone who was no longer supposed to be romantically intertwined with you? It was as if the consequences of their impulsive actions were suddenly weighing heavily on Eddie’s shoulders, and it was overwhelming to say the least. There was still so many unanswered questions - there was still one stubborn, lingering thought that Eddie had.

Richie didn’t even love him anymore.

“Eddie….”

Eddie let out another awkward, almost manic laugh as his eyes darted between Richie and the white comforter pushed back to the edge of the bed. “H-hey, it’s okay… It’s fine. I just..” Eddie began to stand up to his feet, trying to avoid the frown of concern on Richie’s face as he adjusted himself in his pants.

“Eddie, wait. I shouldn’t have done that without your permission.That was…” Stupid. Stupid was the word Richie wanted to say, but he trailed off instead. As he watched Eddie slowly working himself up, Richie kept thinking one inappropriate thought at that moment - he was sorry, but he most certainly didn’t regret his actions. Especially not after Eddie kissed him back. Maybe it was pure instinct on Eddie’s part, but a huge part of Richie didn’t believe that. A huge part of him was hoping that wasn’t the case.

“I’m just gonna take a walk, okay? I just need some air. I’ll.. I’ll be back.” Eddie finally looked at Richie, and he felt a pang in his chest when he saw the look on his face. Why was _he_ feeling guilty all of a sudden? It wasn’t like he was the one who went around initiating kisses with his ex boyfriend. Still, Eddie felt an overwhelming need to assuage Richie. “Promise.”

He gave Richie a small, fleeting smile, before he turned to go slide on his gym shoes. As he grabbed his jacket from the chair by the door, he took one last look at Richie, who was staring right at him. His eyes were blank, and once again, Eddie could not tell what he was thinking.

Eddie made sure he had a key card before he walked out of the door.

\---

“Bill, what’s wrong, babe?”

Stan shifted from facing away to Bill until he was facing him - Bill was laid on his back, his hands stuffed behind his head while he stared up at the ceiling.

Normally, Bill was the first one to sleep out of the both of them, but his breathing hadn’t evened out once since they got into bed thirty minutes ago.

“Hm?” A distracted hum left past Bill’s lips, lolling his head to the side to stare at his boyfriend. “Nothing. Am I keeping you up?”

A frown found Stan’s expression, and he shook his head as he chewed at his lower lip. “No, it’s just that you’re usually asleep by now. If you’re up, something’s probably wrong.” Stan scooted his body until he was flush against Bill, laying his head against his shoulder. He couldn’t help but be worried about Bill.

Bill’s eyes stared down at Stan, one of his hands reaching down to smooth back hair from Stan’s forehead before he pressed a soft kiss to it. “I’m fine, babe. I’m just in my thoughts, is all. It’s been a pretty insane week, don’t you think?”

Stan nodded in agreement, tilting his head until he could reach up and peck Bill’s lips softly. “We’re almost there, though. You would think the pressure was coming from Ben and Bev.” He let out a quiet chuckle, before silence settled over the room again.

They both knew it was true. There was no doubting that the tension between Eddie and Richie was affecting all of them. Especially Beverly.

As if the sudden silence needed to be filled with _something_ other than his thoughts, Bill leaned down and kiss Stan deeply, taking the other male off guard. Stan couldn’t lie; He liked when Bill surprised him with kisses like this - kisses that set his soul on fire.

One of his hands reached up to cup the back of Bill’s neck, and Bill’s arms looped around Stan’s waist to bring him in close.

Just as they were getting into it, a sharp knock on the door caused them to pull apart, and they look at each other. “..should we just ignore it?” Stan questioned quietly through short breaths.

Another sharp knock sounded, and moments later, a muffled voice accompanied it on the other side. “Bill? Stan?” It was Eddie.

Again, Bill and Stan stared at each other for a few moments before Bill unraveled himself from Stan and padded towards the door, running a hand through his bed hair. Moments later, Bill pulled the door open, staring down at a jacketed Eddie.

Eddie looked a little worried, but otherwise, he looked unharmed, which allowed Bill to relax his body.

“I’m sorry that I, uh.. I’m here so late - if you guys were sleeping.” Eddie stammered out, staring down at his own hands.

“No, Eddie, you’re fine.. We were up. Is something the matter? Where’s Rich?”

“He’s in the room.. Can I talk to you outside, Bill?” Eddie questioned, finally looking up at him.

The look on Eddie’s face didn’t let Bill think twice before he agreed.

“Who is that, Bill?” Stan called out from inside, causing Bill turn to turn in towards the room.

“It’s just Eddie, babe. We’re gonna go outside for a bit. I’ll be back.” He called back.

Silence permeated the air for a few moments before Stan called back out, “Could you come here for a second, Bill?”

Bill’s eyebrows furrowed for a few moments, and then he turned back to look at Eddie who was looking at the ground.

“Bill, if I’m interrupting something--”

“Hey, no, it’s cool. Give me a second to see what Stan might want.” He gave Eddie a small, uncertain smile before he gently closed the door behind him.

Eddie stood there rocking on his heels for what seemed like hours, and suddenly, he felt like he made a mistake in coming there. He was going to just turn around and go outside by himself to avoid any trouble he suddenly felt he might have been causing, but then, the door open and Bill slipped out. Eddie could see him just barely wiping away a frown from his face and replacing it with a smile.

“You ready to go?” Bill questioned, having gotten into a thin jacket himself.

“Uh.. yeah, if you’re sure. I just need to talk to you about something. Something with me and Richie.”

With that, the both of them began to make their way outside. Eddie had a lot to get off his chest about the situation. He needed some sound advice. He wasn’t sure that this could get any worse and more confusing, anyway.

At least, that had been what he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you guys think!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's literally been like two months ;___; I AM SO SORRY.
> 
> Life got in the way and everything got all hectic... again, I want to apologize for keeping you guys waiting, and I hope that we can start wrapping this up without this many more breaks in between. You guys deserve it.
> 
> This chapter is a little **NSFWish** towards the end, but it's not too bad.
> 
> This chapter is also a little intense, but I promise this is going somewhere. You gotta trust me.
> 
> Stick in with me, it's about to get a whole lot crazier.
> 
> Also! I would super appreciate it if you guys checked out my patreon - https://www.patreon.com/losvcr   
> my ko-fi - https://ko-fi.com/deonna and the commissions on my tumblr blog. I'd be willing to take request from y'all too.
> 
> Happy readings!!

When Eddie opened his eyes the following morning, he couldn’t help the toothy grin that began to spread across his lips; The sight before him wasn’t really all that pretty, but it was adorable nonetheless.

Eddie had slept on his stomach, and Richie on his back, but Richie was completely sprawled out on the bed. Eddie had tried to lift his legs up, but to no avail, as Richie’s left leg weighed down on them. At some point during the night, Richie must have taken out his contacts. Eddie figured this because Richie was wearing his thick lensed glasses, something that Eddie used to yell at him about all the time. Not for wearing the glasses, of course, but for wearing them to bed where they could easily break. Now they were skewed diagonally across his face, one of the temples bending awkwardly as if it would snap.

To top it all off, Richie’s jaw was unhinged and his mouth was wide open as soft snores resonated from him with the slow inflation and deflation of his chest; He even had a little dried up drool at the left corner of his lips. As cute and hilarious as it was, Richie’s face was only inches away from Eddie’s. While it normally might have made him blush, Eddie was too busy trying to get away from Richie’s morning breath, only made more stagnant by his open mouthed breathing.

Eddie soon twisted his waist and slowly sat up until he could lean onto his elbow, and he reached down to remove the glasses from Richie’s face. He carefully folded them down and leaned over Richie until he could set them on the side table, before cautiously maneuvering himself out of bed as if not to wake Richie.

As he sat on the edge of the bed and looked over at Richie, he found himself thinking of the night before and what Bill had told him.

_“Bill, I don’t… know what the fuck to do. I don’t know how to feel. It’s been five years. Five years. I still don’t have a full explanation from Richie as to why he left.”_

_Eddie sat on the short, concrete ledge of a garden in front of the hotel, watching the taller man in front of him toy around with a vape pen he’d bought the other day. Eddie could vividly remember Stan telling Bill not to waste his money on something he wasn’t even gonna use, while Richie egged Bill on with several variations of the phrase ‘stick it to Stan the man, Denbrough!’. Eddie knew Bill’s tampering with the pen was his desire to prove that he hadn’t indulged in something that he wasn’t gonna use, and he thought it was a little ridiculous, but humorous nonetheless._

_Bill’s eyes darted up from the pen to stare down at Eddie, sympathy laced in his expression after processing the situation that Eddie was in. This had been an ongoing battle for years, whether or not Richie and Eddie wanted to admit it._

_“I’m gonna give you the answer you don’t wanna hear, Eddie.” A moment later, Bill sat on the ledge next to Eddie, his knees awkwardly reaching his chest from how low the ledge was. “You two need to sit down and have a brutally honest conversation. For this whole entire trip, you two have been beating around the bush without really trying to come to some sort of conclusion. What did that culminate into?”_

_Eddie let out a quiet huff as he stared down at his feet, tapping them nervously on the ground. It was a tick he had picked up from Richie years ago, noticing that the other male would do it whenever he got antsy, along with numerous other little ticks. But the toe tapping was what Eddie had latched onto for whatever reason._

_“I don’t want to. I’m too… I don’t know. Scared? What if.. What if the conversation doesn’t go the way I want it to go?” Eddie mumbled at the ground, feeling Bill’s gaze on him._

_“Well, what way do you want it to go?” Bill questioned gently - patiently._

_Eddie paused, thinking about it. What way_ did _he want it to go? The answer was sitting there in the forefront of his brain, screaming at him. Eddie knew how he wanted it to go, but it was scary to think about. It was the truth that he had been avoiding in favor of oblivion, in order to protect his ego._

_Eddie stayed quiet for a few more moments until he was finally blurting out what was on his mind, “I miss him, Bill.”_

_His eyes finally left the ground to look over at Bill, whose facial expression was blank. Eddie had no way of telling what Bill was thinking in that moment. Not until he was speaking up._

_“You two have… a_ lot _of unresolved issues. I don’t think it’s gonna get any easier or less confusing until you two have an open conversation. But, that doesn’t mean you have to jump into the water right away.” Bill started, staring directly into Eddie’s eyes. “There’s other ways to make your feelings clear to Richie. You have to follow what your head and heart is telling you, Eddie. It’s only when you do that, that you’ll be able to have the conversation that you need to have with him.”_

_Eddie sat there in stunned silence, unable to take his gaze off Bill while he tried to understand what Bill meant. It wasn’t exactly a direct answer - most people wouldn’t have known what to do with the last piece of advice Bill had given him._

_But Eddie thought that maybe it was meant to be that way. Somehow, it provided Eddie with a sense of peace, and an idea of how he should act._

_“So, do you wanna talk about what happened with Stan?” Eddie changed the subject, giving Bill a knowing look. He didn’t fail to notice the tension in the air when he showed up to their room. Bill gave a shrug that seemed like it wanted to be casual, but Bill’s expression finally revealed something; a flicker of a grimace._

_Eddie and Bill stayed outside for a little bit, talking until exhaustion was too hard for either of them to fight any longer. Once they got on their hotel floor, they gave each other a long hug goodnight, clearly needed by both of them. After pulling away, Eddie gave Bill a warm smile and patted his cheek gently. He didn’t know what he would do without Bill there to be his voice of reason. Soon, they turned from each other and walked opposite ways down the hallway and back into their hotel rooms._

_When Eddie walked inside, he was a little surprised to see Richie awkwardly resting his head against their headboard, eyes trained on him. Eddie’s face had turned a bright red at this, only made worse by their earlier activity vividly slamming back into his thoughts. Just the thought of Richie kissing him like that made his whole body heat up, and he did his best not to portray it on his face. Boy, was it a lot harder than he anticipated._

_Eddie gave Richie a small smile once he had made it back over to their bed, throwing his jacket on the chair near their bed and slowly climbing into it next to the other male who had yet to avert his gaze. Being much closer to Richie allowed Eddie to see the signs of restlessness; a furrowed brow, and a steady clicking noise that Eddie identified as Richie picking at his nails._

_“Are you okay?” Richie finally asked, his voice small. “You’re.. You’re not upset with me, are you?”_

_Eddie could clearly hear the hint of anxiety in Richie’s voice, and everything in his body was screaming for his to assuage it somehow. He hated to see Richie like this, knowing that he was most likely having an internal meltdown._

_“What? Richie, of course not. Everything’s okay.” Eddie said softly, giving Richie another small smile. Soon, a less tensioned-fill silence was taking over the room, the two staring at one another but both in their own thoughts._

_Hesitantly, Eddie’s twitching fingers were reaching over until they could brush against Richie’s hand, and he slowly wrapped them around three of Richie’s, giving them a squeeze. He watched as Richie looked down at their fingers, and felt worried he might have made a mistake until he felt Richie squeeze his fingers back, and Richie’s thumb running over the back of his hand._

_A shaky breath left him at their connectedness, which remained for a long moment. Then, Eddie was slowly pulling away and shifting to grab the blankets to pull over them before he flipped onto his stomach. “Shut off the light, Rich. Let’s go to bed, alright?”_

_Eddie watched as Richie lifted his head from the headboard to stare down at him, and soon, he was doing as Eddie said._

_Maybe, just maybe, they would be okay._

Eddie was startled from his thoughts by three sharp knocks on the door, and he turned his head towards the door out of instinct. Beverly’s muffled voice soon accompanied the knocks. “I let everyone get a few extra hours of sleep, so now it’s time to get up!”

A low groan sounded from the other side of him from Richie, causing Eddie to look back over at him. Richie was gnawing his mouth together in what Eddie assumed was an attempt to create moisture, causing an awkward smacking sound that made Eddie cringe slightly. What had him laughing, however, was Richie’s squinting at him.

“Is that you, Eds? Or are you someone else? Please, if you’re someone else, don’t tell me you murdered Eddie. That means you’ll probably kill me too, and… I haven’t lived life to the fullest yet.”

Eddie was snickering at Richie’s groggy rhetoric, rolling his eyes playfully. Even while waking up, Richie couldn’t stop joking around. “How about you put your glasses on and see for yourself?”

“Oh, it’s gotta be you, Eddie. I know your voice anywhere.” Richie stated matter of factly as he stretched his long limbs out, groaning at the relief he felt once he released the tension from his muscles.

“For all you know, I could be impersonating.” Eddie shot back with a grin, watching as Richie blindly reached around for his glasses and clumsily shoved them onto his face once he found them.

Richie let out a sigh of relief when he focused in on Eddie. “Thank _god_ it’s you. For a second, you had me a little worried there, Eds. I thought I was gonna have to go Kung-fu.” Richie teased. Eddie rolled his eyes playfully before he stood to his feet, starting for the bathroom.

“You’re real dramatic, you know that?”

“Of course I do. Let’s be real, though. You wouldn’t want me any other way. How boring would your lives be if you didn’t have me spicing it up every second?” Richie smiled warmly over at Eddie, glad that last night hadn’t pushed a wrench into their progress.

“Shut up and start getting ready for the day, Trashmouth. I have no doubt that Beverly is gonna mow our door down if we take too long.” Eddie had began to walk into the bathroom before he stopped, poking his head out of the door as if he’d been hit with a sudden afterthought; Which, was true. “Oh yeah - stop sleeping with your glasses on. You’ll break them.”

\---

Eddie honestly felt that today had been the most relaxed day of the vacation. They had all gone to the beach for the day because the rain had finally relented, making way for the bright sun to shine.

Beverly and Eddie had a sandcastle making competition against Stan and Whitney, resulting in outlandishly big sandcastles that only survived the photo op before getting wash away by big waves.

The other four went wakeboarding for a while, with Richie bragging that he could stay on for the longest. That, of course, backfired with him wiping out the quickest.

After reconvening for lunch, the group stayed together and played a couple of matches of volleyball (With Mike, Whitney, Richie and Eddie being on a team together and slaughtering the others while displaying severe symptoms of sore winning), before sitting on the sand to watch the sunset together.

It hadn’t been lost on the others that Eddie and Richie’s behavior around each other had shifted. It had started to take on a tone much like that before their break-up, with playful flirting and practically staying attached at the hip. It seemed almost too good to be true, which was maybe the reason none of them said anything out loud about it. The only manifestation of recognition from the others had been Beverly’s nonstop, shit-eating grin.

After their beach trip, they had all agreed that they would spend the rest of the evening at a lounge spot within the hotel. They’d all dressed in their best night clothes, and agreed to meet each other at 10 on the dot.

Except, Richie and Eddie found themselves bumbling into the dusky lounge at around 10:20, obviously engaged in a heated discussion as they made their way over to the others.

“Flower lei is tradition here, Richie. Just because _you_ didn’t see it sitting in our hotel room for the five days we’ve been here, doesn’t mean it wasn’t there before.”

“Eddie, I’m telling you, dude. I am perceptive,” Eddie snorted, but Richie continued on. “They weren’t there before. You know, honestly, I’m starting to think you might not be Eddie Kaspbrak. Maybe you’re trying to set me up.”

They were soon sliding into a large booth next to Stan, and almost as if instinct, Richie threw his arm over Eddie’s shoulders.

“What are you two arguing about now?” Ben questioned, his mouth full of the appetizer he and Beverly were sharing.

“Ew, Ben, chew with your mouth closed.” Beverly scolded as she swatted at his chest playfully. The grin on her face seemed to reflect other than berating, however.

“Richie just being paranoid, is all. He thinks someone is after him or something.” Eddie explained with a shrug, rolling his eyes playfully. There was always something new with Richie. It truly was impossible to be bored around the trashmouth. “I made one single joke this morning, and now he’s taking it to the next level.”

“ _He_ tried to make me think he was someone else while I was blinded!” Richie exclaimed while slamming his fist down on the wooden table as if to accentuate his point. All it did was make half of them flinch from the sudden outburst. “What else am I supposed to think? Gotta stay sharp, folks.”

Eddie was huffing and affectionately rolling his eyes at Richie’s dramatics again, as were the others, but he was slowly sinking further and further into Richie’s side. Richie’s warmth was practically radiating off of him in waves, and Eddie found it to be comforting. He always did.

“Let’s get this party started, aye? Shots on me!” Richie got out in the worst Australian accent ever. It made Eddie wince visibly, and he was pushing at Richie’s bony side gently to push him out of the booth faster.

“Shots suddenly on you when they’re free, huh?” Stan drawled out sarcastically, before he quirked a challenging eyebrow at a mischievous-smiling Richie.

“That’s right. Don’t hate on the player just because you didn’t think of it first.” He winked, causing Stan to audibly gag. Richie had scooted himself out the booth, holding his hand out to Eddie. “Come with me, dahlin’?”

For some reason, a blush had began to take over Eddie’s face, but he tried to hide his bashfulness behind a playful eye roll before he took Richie’s hand and got out of the booth. “Well, someone’s gotta babysit you.”

\---

Kissing. Heavy breathing. Lips and tongues sloppily meshing together. Whimpers and moans.

“Richie…” Eddie moaned breathlessly when he felt Richie’s head drop onto his shoulder and Richie’s hips gyrating hard against his. His slender fingers shook as they raked up and down Richie’s clothed back, and his hips seemed to have a mind of their own as they pushed against Richie’s.

How did they end up here? Eddie could remember them sitting downstairs at the lounge, having drink after drink with the others until they were suddenly alone. Eddie could remember feeling Richie gradually scooting closer to him until Eddie could distinctly smell the liquor and the smell of Richie’s signature cologne.

He could remember the damp warmth of Richie’s breath hitting the skin of his jaw and earlobe as he whispered in his ear, and he could remember his hands clinging to the back of Richie’s neck. Everything after that was a blur in his foggy mind, and he was still struggling to recall how they ended back up in their hotel room making out.

Not that he could focus that hard on it, anyway. Richie was _everywhere_. Richie was the first and last thing in his mind, and in his drunken state, there was nothing else he wanted more. He wanted Richie so badly. He needed Richie. Richie was like the air he was breathing - he _needed_ it.

But something was wrong. Even with the hungry entanglement of their tongues and their bodies creating a warm, tingly friction, Eddie could feel something wasn’t all the way there.

That was when he was suddenly hit in the face with cool, fresh air, Richie’s face having disappeared from his. Eddie’s eyes shot open and he stared up at Richie, his heart beating so fast that he thought he might go into cardiac arrest.

“W-wha-- Why did you…?” Eddie was slurring with a frown of absolute confusion on his face, feeling a wave of panic when Richie rolled onto the bed next to him.

“We can’t do this, Eddie.”

The wave of devastation that rolled over Eddie was one that hit him like a surfer getting overrun by one they hadn’t expected to be so strong. It had been strong enough to make tears prick into his eyes.

“Why? Why can’t we?” His voice was wavering as he scrubbed at his eyes, unable to meet Richie’s gaze. It was like everything was hitting him all at once. “Richie, why did you leave me? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you h-hurting me l-like this?” Eddie could feel his lower lip trembling as he tried his hardest to bite back his tears.

“Eddie, we… we’re drunk.” Richie frowned, his eyes trained on Eddie. He could hear the pain in his voice. He had done this to him again, trying to do what he thought was the right thing. Richie honestly hated the thought of Eddie waking up the next morning and regretting what they did.

“Why did you leave me?” Eddie questioned more firmly, his slurred speech raising in volume as frustration began to seep through his veins. So many unresolved issues. So many open wounds.

“Eddie, I…” Eddie knew what Richie was gonna say. He knew what he was gonna say. He was so tired of the excuses. He needed to know why.

“Y-You tell me right now, goddammit Richie. I-I deserve to f-fucking know the rest!”

Richie let out a soft sigh, resting his head on his hands as he struggled to get it out. This had been so hard for him, but seeing Eddie on the verge of cracking was something he couldn’t handle. He couldn’t keep putting Eddie through this.

“Brandon.”

The name echoed in Eddie’s head, and he sat there in silence for a long time, sniffling. Brandon. “Brandon? Brandon Vogel?” It had taken him a while to spit the name out, his head still spinning with thoughts of Richie. Thoughts of inadequacy. Thoughts of pain and frustration.

“Yes. Him.”

When Richie didn’t elaborate, Eddie started to grow impatient with his lack of explanation. “What about him, Richie?” Eddie snapped, finally bringing his gaze up to look at Richie. He didn’t understand what his coworker had to do with their break up.

“I saw you two. That fucking day at the hospital.” Richie’s eyes had darkened slightly, which made Eddie shut all the way up.

His stomach was churning as he racked his brain to try and figure out what Richie might have been talking about. Clearly, something happened that had upset Richie, but he didn’t know what.

Brandon had been a coworker of Eddie’s for years at the children’s hospital. He was a tall blonde guy with blue eyes, and covered head to toe in tattoos. Brandon had also always been really nice to him. He was trying to figure out where Richie was going, and he almost opened his mouth to ask, but Richie started to speak again.

“I came up there with flowers, because I wanted to surprise you. And when I asked the receptionist for you, she… she pointed down the hall and there you two were.” Richie let out a humorless laugh, staring at Eddie. “He was flirting with you. I could tell by the look in his eyes. Because that was the way _I_ looked at you.”

Eddie was staring back at Richie with wide eyes, desperately trying to remember when this happened. He had never heard pain in Richie’s voice like this before, and it was because of _him_.

“He said something that made you laugh, and then you touched his arm all coy-like. Eddie, I felt so nauseous watching that. I thought, ‘well, Eddie’s clearly interested in this guy. Who am I to stand in their way?’ So I left the hospital.” Richie mumbled bitterly, his own voice shaking with festering emotions.

“Richie, what… what the fuck? I.. I wasn’t interested in Brandon! I would never do that to you.” Eddie was stammering out vehemently, as if he were about to get punished at any second if he didn’t explain himself. His voice was fierce and defensive, trying to clear himself of any wrongdoing.

In the fours years that he had dated Richie Tozier, Eddie never once thought of cheating on him. Thinking about that now, even in his inebriated state of mind, was painful to think about. He loved Richie. Betraying him like that just seemed so foolish to him. But Richie clearly thought that he was capable of that.

“Oh yeah, you weren’t interested in him?” Richie’s tone was accusational, and he was sitting up onto his knees in the bed, staring down at Eddie. “Did you date him?”

Eddie’s face dropped at the question, and his already hammering heart skipped a beat. His mind raced back five years ago, when Richie had left him. It had been a particularly rough day for Eddie, nothing working in his favor and his break-up with Richie hitting him hard out of nowhere. It had gotten to the point where Eddie had to take a mental rest in the staff room after breaking down while reading to the younger children, and soon Brandon was coming inside and attempting to cheer him up. He hadn’t asked what was wrong - all he did was crack lame jokes and begged to see him smile. 

In a way, it had reminded him of Richie, and it had been the first time that he had felt _something_ other than pain in months. It was why he said yes when Brandon asked him out on a dinner date. It hadn’t been interest that started that relationship, but a desire for a distraction.

“W-why does that matter…?” Eddie got out shakily. His face was hot all over, and he couldn’t stop the tears that started to stream down his face from the way Richie was looking at him.

“Did you date him Eddie? It’s a yes or no answer.” Richie knew what the answer was, but he wanted to hear Eddie say it. He wanted to confirm what had been his worst nightmare.

“Yes! Yes, okay? I dated him for two months… I dated him, realized we weren’t compatible, and then we broke up.” Eddie told him, a hint of weariness behind his words.

After getting the answer, Richie let out another humorless chuckle, plopping back down on the bed. “Fuck… fucking fuck.” Richie cursed, roughly running a hand through his hair. “Did… Did you fuck him?”

Eddie let out a quiet whimper as he tried to hold down his sobs, his body shaking. “What the fuck does that matter, Richie? Why are you trying to turn this back on me? I didn’t do anything wrong. We weren’t together when I dated Brandon. I didn’t have any interest in him while we were together! And l-last fucking time I checked, you left me, Richie.”

“I call bullshit, Eddie. Y’know, maybe you never even wanted to be with me in the first place. Maybe you just settled, because you felt bad. You felt bad that I moved all the way to New York for you, and so you decided to date me out of pity.”

It was nonsensical, Richie knew. His own hurt and anger was causing him to lash out at Eddie and to project his insecurities. It wasn’t right, of course. But he wasn’t thinking straight. Neither of them was.

“Oh, fuck you, Richie.” Eddie snapped, pushing at Richie’s chest slightly. “I loved you with every fiber in me! I gave you every piece of me, and _only_ to you. W-what about you, huh? What about you and Harley, hm? Just c-couldn’t wait to leave me so you could date her, right?”

Harley. Harley had been in a girl group called Atomic, and they performed punk rock. It was through the industry that Richie had met her, and Eddie was sure that she had been thirsting after Richie for years, even when they had been dating. It had taken a big toll on Eddie when he found out that Richie had dated her a month after their break-up.

“She was a distraction, Eddie! You act like you were the only one hurt from our break up. I told you, it hurt me, too!”

“You’re a fucking liar, Richie…” Eddie sobbed, pushing his face into his hands. He didn’t think he could take this anymore. He couldn’t even understand what had become of them - he was starting to question what they had even been. “Did you even really love me, Richie? You… you just left me. You left me broken, Richie…”

The tears seemed to cascade endlessly as all of the insecurities and self-doubts he had about himself came rushing back. He couldn’t even look at Richie anymore.

“You broke me, Richie…” Eddie whimpered, wanting to fade away more than anything. Everything that he had worked to patch up for years had been slashed wide open again, making the wounds even deeper. He hated how much it hurt. He hated how much he still loved Richie. He hated how much leverage over his life the other man still held.

“Eddie…” Richie started off after a long bout of stunned silence, the guilt in his voice obvious. This was not how he had wanted the night to go. This wasn’t how he expected it to go. It was as if they had taken a million steps backwards. It was as if they were suddenly strangers.

Richie didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be a stranger to Eddie anymore. He didn’t want to be the reason he was hurting. Why couldn’t they work this out? He needed to fix this somehow. He needed to fix them. “Eddie please.. I’m sorry that I even made you question my love for you. The truth is, I love you, Eddie. I still love you. I never… I never fucking stopped.”

Eddie’s body immediately stiffened at Richie’s words, and he felt like he was going to throw up at any second with how much his stomach was churning. It was as if his brain was short circuiting, and all of his functions were shutting down. Richie still loved him? For years, he had convinced himself that Richie stopped, and suddenly, after the most intense argument to ever happen between them, Richie still loved him?

“No… stop it, Richie… Stop it with the mind games. _Please_. I’m so tired. I can’t handle it anymore.”

Slowly, Eddie had began to back himself up against the headboard, pulling his knees up to his chest. He wanted to stop crying. He wanted all of the pain he was feeling to go away, and the confusion that Richie was layering on top of everything, plus how drunk he was, wasn’t helping his mental.

“Eddie, I _love_ you.” Richie’s voice was almost pleading now, his heart beating so hard in his chest that he could hear it in his ears. He had made himself vulnerable to Eddie in hopes that he could assuage any doubts the other male had.

Eddie didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean it when he said it, but with the way Richie had made him feel in that moment, he said the only thing he could think to make Richie feel as terrible as he did. “I hate you…” He whispered through a shaky sob, shifting his body so that he was facing away from Richie.

Richie had been stunned into silence once more, and he could swear he had never felt a pain like that in his life. Not even the hardest punch to his gut could compare to the way it felt when Eddie uttered those three words to him. He had never wanted to hear that come from Eddie towards him, and it completely unnerved him.

“You… you don’t mean that…” He breathed out, his whole body rattling. He needed to hear Eddie take it back. He needed to hear Eddie say that he didn’t mean it, and that he was sorry for being so cruel.

But, it didn’t happen.

“I hate what you did to me, Richie Tozier. You have ruined me.”

Richie’s brown eyes stared at Eddie’s trembling back, and tears began to well in his eyes. He deserved that. He knew he deserved that. He had done this to himself. It didn’t hurt any less, however. “Fine…”

The bed slowly shifted, and Eddie could hear Richie’s footsteps stomping away. Eddie flinched when the hotel door slammed so hard that the walls vibrated. It felt like the walls vibrated forever, a subtle reminder of the damage done.

Soon, he had dissolved into uncontrollable sobbing. Eddie had sobbed so hard that he had to rush to the bathroom from choking, causing him to puke.

He told Richie he hated him. What had he done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what y'all think. <3 <3


End file.
